Fire Forged
by ScribeOfRemedy
Summary: To Ignis the world of man was a strange one. Through his fledgling bond with Noct he now understood their words but their actions and intentions still baffled him much of the time. Moved from the caverns where he'd lived all his life and relocated to the Citadel, where there were many men, Ignis began to learn to be something he was not.
1. Prologue: The Dragon and the Prince

Chapter Summary: A bond is forged.

Notes: This work is a collection of one shots based on the "what if" scenario of Ignis being born a dragon. Chapters will not necessarily be in chronological order.

* * *

The king's shield shifted beneath his formal robes in a rare display of disapproval. "Are you certain about this? The boy is so young."

Were they alone, Regis would have found much enjoyment in teasing Clarus for his worries, though he shared some of the same concerns. Time was the one luxury he could not gift to his son. "I'm afraid we'll find no better opportunity than the present, my friend. The bond we seek to forge must be stronger than that of brothers. Noctis will need every advantage."

Clarus didn't appear appeased. "I've heard tales, whisperings of dragons laying waste to entire civilizations, only seeing fit to bow before the cruelest of kings."

"Don't let the lore of old deceive you. Dragons are not so simple minded. They are incredibly intelligent creatures. It takes more than a show of force to win their trust, but the history texts are right about one thing: a dragon's loyalty is the making of legend." Regis patted his son's shoulder encouragingly. "Noctis, are you ready?"

Noctis nervously gripped at the fabric of his father's jacket as he glanced back across the underground cavern beneath the Citadel to the large set of imposing metal doors sealing off the other end of the chamber. The impressive entrance was covered in intricate runes and flanked on either side by rows of crownsguard. "Am I really gonna meet a dragon?"

Regis smiled at Noctis' anxious fidgeting. It must truly seem like a fairytale come true for the boy. "Yes, Noctis. But you see, this dragon is special. He's all alone and has no one to play with. Do you think you would be able to become his friend?"

The boy's eyes widened; his face lit up in excitement and longing in equal measure. "Really? I mean, sure! I can do that."

Regis' heart swelled. If there was one thing that pulled at Noctis' heartstrings it was loneliness, though it was an emotion Regis truly wished his son couldn't emphasize quite so well with. Hopefully today that would change. He hadn't been dishonest when he told Noctis this particular dragon was alone. The last egg gifted by the Crystal and hatching only two years prior to the birth of the Chosen King, the dragonling truly was the last of his kind. _Just like Noctis_. "Then let's say hello."

The massive doors were pulled aside and Noctis tensed, likely imagining some scaly monstrosity akin to the fantastic illustrations often depicted in storybooks. What eventually stumbled out of the darkness on too long, unsteady legs was no taller than the prince's chin and covered from nose to tail in tawny brown feathers. There were two tiny wings tucked in close to his back and the beginnings of a purple coeurl pattern growing in along his flank and traveling down to his tail feathers. He was still quite young, especially by dragon standards, but already showing signs of prodigious intelligence. Even as he shuffled toward his visitors in a manner befitting a newborn anak, it's clear the dragonling was watching them all quite closely.

Noctis gasped the moment he laid eyes on the creature, entranced by the small dragon that was nothing like he'd expected. Drawn in by the hushed excitement and doubtless sensing the Crystal's influence, the dragon swiveled his head toward the prince. The room stilled when their eyes met. The air crackled, saturated with magical energy, as every soul held their breath, waiting for the verdict. It was over in an instant. The dragon bounded over to Noctis, caution seemingly thrown to the wind, and sniffed at the boy's face curiously. Noctis giggled at the attention and gently held out his hand for inspection. "Hello, my name's Noctis. Want to be friends?"

The dragon pulled back, then almost reverently nosed his snout into Noctis' palm. The two were then caught up in a brilliant flash of crystalline light that built steadily in intensity before shattering. In the fading luminance Noctis' hand now rested on the head of a boy, no more than a few inches taller than the prince himself, kneeling at his feet. "Hello, Prince Noctis. My name is Ignis and I would consider it a great honor to be your friend."

The bond was forged.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Any feedback or thoughts on the story are very much appreciated.


	2. The Dragon and the Sky Beyond the Wall

Chapter Summary: A dragon soars.

Notes: In which I shamelessly indulge in talking about one of my favorite subjects.

* * *

"Oh man, please tell me we're stopping," Prompto practically begged from the back of their pathetic little procession through the dry plains of the Weaverwilds.

"Wuss," Gladio teased, though Noctis suspected the taunt was more to maintain his overly masculine, tough guy façade than anything else. Everyone was running on fumes at this point. It had taken hours of extra hiking to find a more secluded haven near Hammerhead and Noctis was sure they would've been out of luck if they hadn't come across a large break in the fencing that sliced through the wilderness miles out from the garage. The wooden posts had seemingly been smashed inward, the charred and warped remains strewn at their feet around a massive gash in the tall barrier. On the other side a haven hadn't been immediately visible but with a little exploration they'd finally spotted a raised plateau of solid rock tucked safely away in tiny glade. Noctis smiled to himself at the sight of the blue runes glowing faintly with protective magic. It was all going to be worth it soon.

The prince glanced over his shoulder to check on his weary retainers. They were all looking a little worn down, unused to the long car rides and rough terrain outside the city. Ignis in particular was looking a little more ruffled than normal. Noctis was sure his advisor would never admit it, but he had to be crawling in his own skin. It had been over a week of nonexistent privacy in cramped hotel rooms with zero opportunities to stretch his wings. Ignis needed this.

As if to prove the prince's point the advisor choose that moment to speak up. "It is getting rather late; perhaps we should consider accommodations for the night. Daemons will be out soon." Ignis was using his _reasoning_ voice, thankfully still quite a few steps below his _do as I say or face the bloody consequences _voice, but a definite sign that he along with rest of the party were steadily reaching the end of their rope.

Noctis faced forwards again. "Yeah alright, let's crash here."

"Oh thank goodness!" Prompto looked about ready to collapse then and there on the rough stone. "So, anybody want to share with me why this haven is so much better than like, the last three?"

Gladio must have caught on to Noctis' scheme at some point or another because he gave the gunner a significant look toward Ignis.

The gesture was not missed by the advisor. He stiffened where he stood, forgetting about setting up his cook station and probably coming to the conclusion that Noctis' insistence on passing by the last handful of havens had been less to do with avoiding the Imperial presence at Formouth Garrison and more for his own benefit. He leveled his prince with an expression of open suspicion.

Noctis shrugged, not feeling particularly remorseful. Ignis worked hard at taking care of everyone else but sometimes he needed a little shove in the right direction to do things for himself. "Figured since we're out here all alone a little airshow might be nice."

Ignis frowned. "I hardly think that's wise. Furthermore, we've yet to set up camp."

"Come on, Iggy, I've done this a few times. I think we can handle it. Go, catch some air," Gladio threw in from over his shoulder as he started pitching the tent.

Ignis' frown remained, though his eyebrows rose a fraction at the shield's unexpected betrayal, his resolve wavering.

Like a shark to blood in the water, Prompto bounced forth, suddenly full of his usual energy and cradling his camera close. "Please, Iggy! We're runnin' out of daylight here and I wanna capture that wingspan in the sunset glow."

"No, absolutely not. I'll not be parading about for photographs." Ignis once again dug his heels in, determined not to make a spectacle of himself.

"Oh come on, please! No one's gonna see 'em but us." Prompto crowded further into Ignis' personal space, impersonating a kicked puppy for all he was worth.

"Yeah, nobody's going to want to look at his pictures anyway." Noctis ignored Prompto's strangled noise of protest. "Besides, the sky's nice today."

And it was. The late evening atmosphere was already kissed with the red and orange hues bleeding off the sinking sun. The vibrant colors soaked into the wispy clouds overhead, their forms rambling and soft, adrift in the gentle breeze that wove through the tall trees of the forest and carried the bayings of nearby wildlife bedding down for the night. Ignis' defense died off as he gazed up at the wide open expanse of a brilliant canvas for once untainted by the smog of the city or the Crystal's wall. Because for all the advisor wore every inch of decorum and grace Citadel life had immersed him in, he was no more free of the same siren song Noctis imagined called to all denizens of the air. As long as he'd known him, Iggy had always loved to soar.

The three Lucians silently waited out the dragon's sulky reluctance to admit defeat. "I suppose a quick flight couldn't be too damaging."

Noctis tried to keep the smirk from being too obvious on his face. "That's the spirit, Specs."

Ignis gave the prince a withering glance but proceeded to march to the far corner of the haven all the same. There was a brief flash of magic and suddenly the campsite became much more cramped. As a dragon, Ignis was roughly the height of a large anak and at least twice as long, wings decorated with brilliant red markings and shimmering flecks of black extended out beyond the humble boundaries of the haven. His tail hung off the edge of the raised rock and easily could have curled itself more than halfway around their budding camp. He was likely still growing if Noctis' limited studies on the dragon's bonded to kings past could be considered any kind of reliable standard. He'd certainly come a long way from the skittish ball of feathers the prince had met below the Citadel all those years ago.

The dragon's slender neck craned toward the heavens and with one movement of his powerful wings he was up, shooting past the tree tops and gaining altitude fast. Prompto was already snapping pictures in rapid-fire bursts, trying to track the fleeting silhouette gliding along breathy currents against the fading light. It was always unexpected, watching Ignis fly. The advisor typically kept his emotions in check; everything was controlled precision with him. You'd never expect the guy could move like this, so alive and free, but in the air Ignis became something outside of the restricting mold he'd been fitted to.

Ignis stayed aloft for a while and once Gladio was satisfied with their shelter for the night Noctis occupied himself with scoping out the best view from the comfortable fold-out chair furthest from the tent. Watching Ignis was nice for a bit but as the dragon attempted more dizzying maneuvers Noctis found his eyes lazily drawn down to the remains of an unusual structure that stood out starkly against the surrounding nuances of nature unchecked. It was all crumbled stone and twisted metal – an observation tower of some kind possibly, if Noctis attempted to reconstruct the odd ruin in his mind's eye, with the remnants of its rusted stairwell still springing up from the center of the wreckage. There was a salty flavor to the air here, making Noctis assume they were not too far removed from the ocean. Ignis could probably see it from above. Maybe it's connected somehow to the mysterious fallen tower.

Idly, Noctis wondered if his dad would've known its purpose. He'd have to ask him someday after this was all over. Yeah, like that'd happen_._ Noctis rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. His old man never had time to just talk or deal with any of his crap period really. Maybe that was why he couldn't quite shake the uncomfortable feeling that surged up in his gut every time he remembered how something had just been _off_ about their last words on the Citadel steps.

It could've just been stress from handling the Empire along with the whole political circus that went with the peace treaty and his own son's sudden betrothal, but Noctis had expected more of a scolding for his flippant dismissal to his father's warnings. And the way Regis had drunken in the sight of him, as if he might never lay eyes on his son again, had been a bit odd to say the least and made Noctis anxious enough to reevaluate everything he'd overheard from court gossip to what he'd gleaned from the reports Ignis had drilled him over recently – all to try and figure out what exactly would justify his father looking at him like he'd just been offered up as some kind of pagan sacrifice. Of course, his dad might've just been worried about sending them all outside the wall for the first time, even if it was pretty ridiculous. Noctis had his deadeye best friend, the meanest looking shield anybody had ever laid eyes on and a literal dragon accompanying him every step of the way. What could possibly happen?

Eventually Ignis did rejoin them on solid ground, looking a bit flush from exertion and the exhilaration of flight, but insisting on beginning preparations for dinner none the less.

"Enjoy the view?" Noctis asked once Ignis was behind his portable stove and cutting into something that possibly could have been the dualhorn rib steaks they'd acquired earlier that day, hard to say from his limited vantage point.

Ignis paused in his work. After a lingering hesitation he returned to slicing the meat into more manageable portions. "It was rather pleasant."

Noctis grinned at Ignis' back. "Good to hear."

A short time later, once they were all situated around the fire with stomachs filled, Ignis shared his suggestions for the coming day's itinerary. "We'll need to get a bright and early start tomorrow if we're to make any headway toward Galdin after cashing in today's bounties to pay for the Regalia's repairs."

"Ugh, don't remind me. All that work, up in smoke – poof!" Prompto brought his hands together before pushing them apart from each other and waving them over his head in what he likely believed to be an accurate impersonation of dissipating fumes.

"Well, at least Cindy will appreciate the effort," Gladio tried to placate with a smirk.

"You think?" Prompto asked excitedly.

Ignis nodded along through Prompto's squawk of indignation after having one of the legs of his chair kicked by Noctis, pulling out a small notebook from this back pocket and probably preparing to make note of other supplies they'd need to purchase. "And Master Cid, of course."

"Great, wouldn't want to disappoint our number one fan." Noctis leaned back, slumping further into his chair.

"Old man's just got it out for you, Noct." Gladio shrugged, clearly amused.

"Don't I know it. Hey, that reminds me, what'd the old timer want with you before we left?" Noctis had noticed Ignis get pulled aside by Cid while they'd been checking out the merchandise at the convenience store. His father's old friend had kept his opinions anything but private ever since they'd first pushed the Regalia all the way up to his dusty garage, which made the prince suspect the man of sharing more than just complaints.

In response to the question Ignis cleared his throat by primly coughing into his fist, a nervous gesture the prince didn't see often, before setting aside his notebook. "Ah, yes. It seems Cid is privy to more sensitive details than we'd first assumed. He approached me with an interesting proposal. Should we choose to provide him with the proper materials, he is prepared to construct some light defensive wear as well as a riding apparatus suitable for my native form."

"Huh, so dragon armor and … a saddle, that'd be interesting alright." Gladio crossed his arms, glancing skyward and likely trying to picture what said items would even look like.

"Armor?" Prompto squeaked in awed excitement. "Whoa, like, we could fly with you, in the air and stuff?"

"In theory, yes." Ignis nodded calmly, though he subtly leaned a bit back from Prompto's coming barrage of enthusiasm.

"Sweet! This is going to be so wicked. Wonder if it'll be made of metal or leather – or something. Do you think it's gonna be big enough for all of us?" Prompto's elation only seemed to escalate. "I've always wondered what that'd be like."

"It's pretty fun, even if Specs won't do the really cool stunts with passengers," Noctis teased.

"Just because you believe yourself exempt from physical harm does not mean everyone else is convinced." Ignis gave the prince a stern look over his spectacles. "And I'd rather lose as few feathers to your clinging as possible."

Gladio scoffed. "Guess you won't have to worry about that anymore."

"Oh yeah, dragon riding here we come!" Prompto punctuated his cheer with an explosive fist bump between himself and Noctis.

Ignis sighed. "I wonder if it's quite too late to rescind Cid's offer."


	3. The Draon and the Drive

Chapter Summary: Happiness can be found in the journey.

Notes: This chapter and the next are rolling out a bit earlier since they're both on the lighter side.

* * *

Automobiles were perhaps one of man's more interesting inventions.

It may not have been flying by any means, but driving over lanes of paved asphalt was about as close as the average Insomnian citizen could get. To Ignis it offered up a small semblance of freedom that was otherwise lacking in his daily routine. Of course, taking the wheel of any vehicle His Majesty permitted had always interested the young advisor far more than his less than enthused charge, Noct often complaining the city traffic lessened the experience, and to an extent this was not untrue.

Insomnian highways were congested with pedestrians, other drivers and numerous regulations. Such restrictions often transformed a simple jaunt into something rather more of a chore, especially during the onerous rush hours – all inevitable drawbacks of a place where the populace was so closely packed.

That, however, was nothing like the roads out beyond the wall. They could drive for miles without encountering another soul. Required stops were rare, and the Regalia was kept at a steady cruise. The pace may have been considered leisurely next to what he could accomplish with his own wings, but the more sedate journey from the ground did have a charm all its own.

The opportunity to operate the Regalia alone was a special privilege not often merited by those not directly tasked with chauffeuring the king. Ignis had only paid witness to its sleek interior on precious few occasions before their departure from Insomnia and he was quite determined to return His Majesty's steed in optimal condition, even if it meant fending off the less appreciative drivers among them.

It certainly did them no favors to return to Cid's garage preemptively. Cindy would not be forgiving should they undue all her hard work. Thankfully, Noct was typically more interested in nodding off in his father's car as opposed to driving it and Gladio much preferred the ample leg room of the backseat. Even Prompto could be marginally placated with an assured shotgun position in their seating arrangements – a position he regularly utilized to monopolize the radio waves. The upbeat chocobo melody he was so fond of had already become a familiar assault to their ears.

But today the radio was silent. Pleasant weather conditions had allowed for them to travel with the top down and feel the rush of the warm Leiden breeze on their faces. Well deserving of Cindy's admiration, the Regalia handled like a dream over the winding curves of the dusty scrubland, high performance engine purring beneath the hood; its subtle power backlit the soothing sounds of the road. All in all, a marvelous day for a drive.

As they came about the next bend Prompto jerked his head up and to the right of the car. "Whoa, look at that!"

Having also noticed the unexpected obstruction, Ignis smoothly pulled the Regalia to a stop just short of the herd of mesmenir entering the highway. "Ah, we've arrived at a creature crossing."

Ignis counted about twelve or so heads amongst the small gathering of mares and foals as their hooves clacked across the pavement. If his research into the local fauna was to be believed, the mesmenir were not an overly aggressive species unless under duress – a good stroke of luck on their part as even the smallest of the beasts played host to a rather impressive blade-like horn of solid bone atop their head, more than capable of leaving a noticeable dent in the Regalia's freshly polished hide. The herd's stallion hesitated at the center of the road, sparing them a wary once over, but as they seemingly presented no active threat the mesnenir hurried along and soon they were free to resume their journey.

Prompto twisted around in his seat, striving for one last glimpse of the creatures. "Wow, wonder where they're all headed."

"We could always follow them and find out," Gladio prodded the younger man.

"I guess." Prompto sighed wistfully. "The wildlife's actually kinda nice here, you know, when it's not trying to kill you."

"Well, better get used to it," Noctis yawned from his place in the back, already settling back down as soon as the excitement had passed. "Taking on hunts is the only way we're getting cash out here."

"Besides, taking out dangerous pests does the locals a real favor," Gladio added.

"Do you really think we're going to make that much of a difference?" Prompto asked.

Ignis hummed. The thought was a nice one, though not entirely realistic. "While it's all well and good to lend a hand where we're able, it's unlikely that we'll be around long enough to offer aide of any lasting impact."

Prompto deflated. "Oh, right."

"We could always put in a few more favors before we make Altissia," Noct offered. "Bet we could find a job that would even impress Cindy."

"Oh man, impressing our Garage Goddess – any mortal's dream," Prompto gushed.

"Just don't get too carried away with the sidequests. We're not actually here to run errands around Eos." Gladio leaned back into his seat. "Don't forget, we've got people already counting on us."

"Yeah, yeah," Noct returned, mood somewhat soured by the unsolicited reminder of obligations far less Samaritan in nature. Ignis felt the phantom pang of Noct's frustrations and wondered for not the first time if there might be a way to circumvent the new treaty's more archaic provisions, though such treasonous thoughts seemed a moot point.

They'd soon be arriving in Galdin Quay, their final port in Lucis, after being waylaid in Longwryth for longer than expected. Their paths had crossed with the hunter Dave once more while making a delivery on behalf of Cindy and Noctis had volunteered their assistance in scouting the area for lost dog tags. The task had set them back more than a handful of hours but the work certainly had merit. Families could finally mourn properly in the knowledge of their loved one's fate.

Showing unexpected awareness for the circumstance, Noctis had been quick to offer Dave reassurances that they would keep an eye out for more of the missing tags during their travels.

Ignis found he was more grateful for the growing list of errands than he'd ever admit to the others. For once they were allowed to experience the outside world – stretch their metaphorical wings as it were. He'd not seen such unabashed happiness in Noct for quite some time. Loosened from royal burdens he'd come to to dread, Noct was smiling more freely and eager to assist the people they'd met.

However temporary the change, Ignis wished to prolong that happiness as long as possible. What was one more day till Altissia?


	4. The Dragon and the Citadel

_**16 years ago**_

Chapter Summary: A young Ignis learns to be something he is not.

* * *

To Ignis the world of man was a strange one. Through his fledgling bond with Noct he now understood their words but their actions and intentions still baffled him much of the time.

Shortly after meeting Prince Noctis, Ignis was moved from the caverns where he'd lived all his life and relocated into the Citadel proper, where there were many men. He was instructed to maintain his human appearance at all times unless securely within one of the designated safe areas; told his identity could be dangerous in the wrong hands, he was to safeguard it as closely as his new charge.

And so, Ignis began to learn to be something he was not. Well accustomed to a life of near solitude, he found himself on unfamiliar footing when the king assigned his care to one of his attendants, an elder gentleman by the name of Alitus. The young dragon was expected to live in lodgings within the Citadel alongside the man and take on his surname, Scientia, as an alias. Ignis found the arrangement to be puzzling but not unagreeable.

Alitus was a kind man, patient and always quick to encourage Ignis' voracious curiosity. He insisted on being addressed as Uncle and was able to coax Ignis out of the early stages of apprehension for his new surroundings. The man had a very precise and clear manner of speaking. Ignis found he liked it very much and stubbornly attempted to emulate the speech pattern. For whatever reason this seemed to please Alitus immensely.

Ignis was also given tutors different from Noct's and he learned many things about Lucis, the customs of man and serving the royal family. They were commonly pleased with his progress, claiming he had an affinity for learning and retaining knowledge. But Ignis simply found everything fascinating – he wanted to know more. Soon the whisperings of prodigy and future advisor began to stir amongst the humans.

He quickly picked up on an unsaid hierarchy within the Citadel, a prescribed order directing the humans' movements and dictating their interactions. So he strove to find his place within this silent network of finicky language coupled with overt displays of docility. The humans had a complex system of address that was largely governed by station and title, though after some time he discovered familiarity also came into play. Despite being the crowned prince, Noctis often encouraged Ignis to call on him by his favored nickname in place of the conventional _Highness_, something Noct seemingly held no fondness for.

It was a habit his friend had plenty of time to drill into him as one advantage to living in the Citadel was getting to see Noct and see him often. The prince's quarters were also one of the very few places Ignis got to be himself, feathers and all. There the two of them would enthusiastically tackle conquests of their own imagining, climbing up the insurmountable heights of the bedroom furniture, raiding heavily defended blanket forts and rescuing the imperiled princess from her dastardly aggressors. But then sometimes they would lie still, absorbed in the fanciful narrative of one of Noct's storybooks or simply watching the lazy clouds stretch across the sky through the room's grandiose windows until the younger child inevitably wound up dosing, comfortably curled against the dragon's side. On such occasions Ignis would stand guard over the sleeping prince and continue to enjoy the view of the world beyond his dark caves. He found that he rather liked the changes his new friend had brought to his life.

It was not much time after his adjustment to living in the Citadel that the king sent him a special summons. Noctis was there waiting alongside the king, though he gave no indication that he understood why his father had called them together. The king did not look at Ignis directly when he first approached, instead sweeping his gaze out over the impressive architectural embellishments of the throne room and allowing the unique acoustics to grant his words a heavier weight. "Listen well, a king can not lead while standing still. A king pushes onward always, accepting the consequences and never looking back."

As the king spoke he turned to face the young dragon and stooped down, leaning forward to just above Ignis' eye level. "That said, a king can accept nothing without first accepting himself. Should he stand still I ask you to stand by him, by virtue of your calling as ordained by Bahamut, but also as his friend and as his brother. Please, take care of my son." With his request voiced the king ushered his son forward and Noct glanced up beneath messy bangs, anxious and unsure.

Ignis did not yet understand this world. Here there were dangers and secrets; etiquette and social intricacies he did not comprehend. Here his very being was a ruse, meant to misdirect. But here was where he had the chance to see the sky, to stand alongside and protect his friend – his brother – from all this strange world would unleash.

How could Ignis do anything less than accept?


	5. The Dragon and the Changing Tide

Chapter Summary: Gladio and Ignis have a chat during the storm.

* * *

The rain was still coming down. Big, fat drops hammered the sturdy fabric of the tent and completely drowned out all other sound save for the occasional roll of ominous thunder. Visibility had gotten so poor they'd been forced off the road. Lucky for them they'd found a haven nearby, otherwise it was pretty unlikely they could have made it to safety before the sun went down. Though, just this once, Gladio admittedly wouldn't have minded taking on a few daemons if it meant making it to civilization and maybe the answers to quiet the daemons lurking in his own head.

Not that everyone wasn't hurting for some good news. The others were quiet and withdrawn, none willing to compete with the steady drum of the downpour just beyond their modest shelter.

Noctis had worked himself into such a state earlier that Gladio's honestly shocked to his toenails the prince agreed to pulling over. But the kid's obviously exhausted, conked out on his bedroll and deceptively still, almost like any other time he managed to get himself horizontal. The news of the Fall and his father's passing really took it out of him and they'd all been going nonstop ever since. The Amicitia was gonna have to keep an extra close eye on his charge over the next few days. Astrals knew Noct didn't need to work himself into a stasis on top of everything else.

Prompto's curled up only a handful of inches away from Noctis, though his rest was more fitful. Every so often the blond would stir, shifting marginally before intermittently drifting off again or staring up blankly at the tent's low ceiling. No telling what terrors were haunting the poor guy's dreams. None of them had been prepared for what happened to Insomnia — to their families. Gladio wasn't certain when the last time Prompto had even gotten the chance to see his parents, but regardless of the lackluster involvement in their son's life, the loss likely still weighed on someone as tender-hearted as Prompto.

Glancing up from the two young men sprawled prone on the sleeping mats, Gladio spotted Ignis on the far side of the tent where he was, not surprisingly, still very much awake and busying himself with memorizing their map of Leide, presumably compiling a list of possibilities for why Cor would want them in Hammerhead of all places. Given the events of the last forty-eight hours, it was doubtful the advisor would sleep at all tonight in favor of standing guard over his prince and fellow retainers, as if the new king's shield wasn't sitting perfectly useless a little more than an arm's length away. Gladio tried not to take that personally; Iggy's protective instincts were off the charts under normal circumstances and these circumstances were about as far removed from normal as they could get.

So Gladio thought a small lapse in vigilance was excusable when Ignis, having moved across the tent without drawing attention to himself, spoke up and near gave him a freaking heart attack. "Gladio, are you alright?"

Gladio willed the tempo of his heart back down to something a little less frantic before taking a deep, slow breath, just to show off how perfectly calm and relaxed he was – and not about to jump out of his Astral forsaken, rain soaked skin. "Just peachy, what's up?"

Iggy narrowed his eyes in the darkness with that subtle way of his when he came across some puzzle or turn of phrase he found particularly foolish or illogical. Still, the dragon kept his voice low and mostly free of accusation as to not disturb their dosing companions. "I realize this has been difficult for you, Gladio. Please, know can speak freely with me. How are you holding up?"

Gladio had to keep from rolling his eyes. Trust Iggy to pick up on such things when they had so much bigger problems to deal with. The Empire could come down on them at any moment with the literal fleets of airships that now had free reign over Lucian skies. The former prince and last air to the throne was sleeping in a shabby tent, utterly dependent on three inexperienced protectors. For all they knew the crownsguard and glaive forces were both decimated and beyond helping them. And Ignis wanted to know how he was holding up? The answer should have been obvious – he was now the king's shield – anything he felt was inconsequential to the monumental task that now stood before them all. He wasn't allowed to feel grief for his father, who'd doubtless done his duty and died in King Regis' defense. He didn't have room for looming uncertainty over the fate of his little sister. He couldn't sit and worry over any of his friends and family that had been trapped in Insomnia when the Empire invaded. No. He had to focus on the here and now, and anything else was going to be shoved deep down to the darkest depths of his heart where it could feed the vengeful fire building in his gut so he could do his Astral given job and do it well. And Ignis could just wipe that sympathetic, knowing stare right off his overly perceptive mug. "Don't get your tail in a knot over it, I'm fine. 'Sides, in case you haven't noticed, we got bigger problems to stress over."

Ignis huffed, not at all riled by Gladio's dismissive words. "Right, you'll have to excuse my _stressing_. We do indeed have quite the undertaking ahead of us. But know, should you ever change your mind, the offer still stands." The dragon did not move away after he'd said his peace. If anything he situated himself closer than before, giving off a comforting warmth by his mere proximity.

Gladio found the fussing startlingly similar to their very first meeting, back when he didn't have a clue and Iggy had still been skittish about showing his true self to anyone besides Noct and his uncle – his uncle who worked in the citadel.

Right, Ignis was probably just as burnt up and unable to express it as Gladio. It was hard sometimes to remember how sensitive and compassionate the dragon really was. He wore a just as effective – if not more so – mask as the Amicitia. What was really going on inside that noggin of his was always hard to say, but Gladio suspected there was some mutual picking apart of invisible clues no one could have picked up on along with a heaping helping of undeserved self-blame.

Gladio sighed, sometimes it really did suck to understand a problem but be pretty useless at solving it. He knew what was bugging Iggy, just as the dragon knew what was bugging him, but neither of them were going to talk about it. Maybe a distraction was the best compromise. "You get through to anyone yet?"

Ignis shook his head. "I'm afraid I've been unable to reach any of my contacts. Beyond the Empire's propaganda it seems the marshal's word is all we have to rely on at present."

Gladio suddenly wished for something more than the thin walls of the tent separating them form the all the turmoil in the world. Things were going to be so different from now on.

That brought on another thought. "How are you doing with the magic brain link, mumbo jumbo?" Unlike Gladio, Ignis was deeply connected to Noctis through more than just the armiger and oath of the crownsguard. Beyond magic and abilities, emotions could also seep through. If Ignis were to allow himself to experience the full brunt of his loss and pain Noctis would inevitably feel it as well. But this also meant that Iggy couldn't be getting anything less than an unprecedented surge of raw angst from the princess right now.

Ignis didn't reply right away, instead getting a sort of distant look in his eyes as he seemingly turned his attention inward. "Things are about as well as can be expected." Not surprisingly, the dragon didn't elaborate. He and Noct both tended to treat their connection as a matter of privacy. But before Gladio could decide if he wanted to pry, Ignis offered up an unexpected tidbit.

"There was an anomaly the night in Galdin."

Gladio raised an eyebrow in question, knowing Iggy wouldn't leave him hanging after volunteering something like that. The dragon had behaved a bit agitated that night in the suite, nervous over some sixth sense none of the rest of them had.

"I felt something when it happened," Ignis hesitantly confided. "I should have realized."

Somehow listening to Ignis ramping up to berate himself about things he couldn't have possibly known made it even harder to keep a lid on the fury burning beneath his own skin. "Oh yeah, and just what kind of precedence did you have to go off? I know you can only sense the magic in Noct and his father."

Ignis was quiet for a long moment. "That's not entirely accurate."

Well, this was news. Gladio waited for further explanation knowing Ignis wouldn't disappoint.

"The man, on the docks. There was something about him."

"That why you looked ready to bite his head off?" Curiosity piqued, Gladio turned to Ignis and found him looking very lost in thought, as if struggling with an ugly truth he didn't quite accept.

"There was a sense of power and… foreboding, like I've never felt before. I can't quite describe it, similar to the crystal's magic but disparate. It felt something darker and more dangerous," Ignis clarified.

Well, that actually made a bit of sense. Gladio had figured something had been up to make Ignis so openly hostile toward a random civilian. Sure, the guy that warned them of the boats being delayed had been straight up weird, but the dragon usually left such intimidation tactics to Gladio, more than happy to hang back and assess the threat while not drawing attention to himself unless deemed absolutely necessary. On the docks he had purposely positioned himself between the self-proclaimed "man of no consequence" and the rest of them, very nearly growling at the man to back off.

Bizarrely, that had only seemed to amuse the weirdo with the magenta hair. He'd even chuckled at the display, seemingly ignorant of the danger to his life should he make just one wrong move.

Gladio shook his head, reconsidering his stance on the odd stranger. "Huh, knew there was something off about that guy. Think we'll be seeing him again?"

The corner of Ignis' lips hooked downward in displeasure. "I fear it may be a likely possibility."

"So we'll keep an eye out." If nothing else, Gladio could put the dragon's mind at ease in this regard. "Though I doubt a guy like that could do much against the four of us."

"I suppose you're right. In any case, we should attempt to get at least a partial night's rest. We'll need the energy for whatever the marshal has in store."

Right. Tomorrow Gladio would finally have something to point all his pent up frustrations toward. At the very least, Cor would probably know something of what became of their families. It was something Gladio had to be ready to hear, for better or worse – though based on his luck lately... No, he wouldn't think like that yet. He wouldn't give up on Iris or the others just yet. And he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him.

For now, he would wait and he would be strong for his king and his comrades – no matter what it cost. And in the meantime, if they ran into any creepy hobos he'd help Ignis take out the trash.

* * *

I'm really excited for the next update to drop. Two particular friends will be meeting for the first time and there's gonna be a lot of dragon action, so hope to see you guys next time. Thanks for reading!


	6. The Dragon and the Shield

**8**_** years ago**_

Chapter Summary: Gladio meets a new sparring partner.

Notes: This was my first ever attempt at Gladio's POV and I'm so pumped to finally post it. Hopefully it's as enjoyable to read as it was to write!

* * *

Despite his initial reservations in training a spoilt prince, Gladio was actually looking forward to meeting the dragon that shadowed the boy. He'd heard stories about the creatures, heck, everyone had. Said to be powerful on their own but truly devastating when bonded to a king. Gladio didn't think Noctis could possibly count for much at this stage. The brat was pretty weak and whiny, but the dragon should still prove to be quite the challenge.

His sparring partner for the afternoon swept into the reserved training hall at two o'clock sharp, the heels of his polished shoes clicking loudly on the marble floors. To say the kid was not what Gladio had been expecting would have been a gross understatement. The boy appeared to be about a head shorter than the future shield and skinny as a beanstalk with large, nerdy glasses perched on his thin nose, in other words, exactly like a stereotypical bookworm, complete with a pressed vest over a fancy button up shirt and dress shorts. How was the kid even supposed to spar dressed like that?

"Pardon me, would you happen to be Gladiolus Amicitia?" The bookworm spoke with a distinct court accent that didn't instill much confidence in the kid's combat prowess.

"Yeah, that's me. Let me guess, you're Scientia, right?" Gladio endeavored to keep the skepticism out of his tone.

"You are correct, though please feel free to address me as Ignis. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. His Highness has told me a great deal about you," Ignis replied with well-practiced civility.

Gladio scoffed. If Prince Charmless had anything to say about him, it wouldn't be anything good. "Yeah, I'm sure His Highness has only the _highest_ regard for our time together."

"Noctis does have a way with voicing complaints, I'll grant you that." Ignis kept his tone dry and unassuming but Gladio didn't think he was imagining the beginnings of a smirk tugging at the smaller boy's lips.

Gladio was a little bewildered to be honest. This guy was nothing like he expected. "Anyway, you should probably change before we get started. I doubt those clothes are exactly combat ready."

Ignis glanced down at his uniform a moment before peering up with a look on his face that seemed to imply Gladio had just said something rather lacking in intelligence. "I assure you these will not hinder me."

_Well then._ "If you say so." Gladio summoned his practice sword, the familiar weight settling in his hand with a flash of crystal light. "Let me know when you're ready to go."

Ignis eyed the wooden blade doubtfully. "I can only assume you've been made aware of my unique heritage." The kid waited for Gladio to confirm his suspicions with a simple nod before continuing. "In that case, let's begin. And please, don't hold back."

Gladio had to shield his eyes a moment as Ignis surrounded himself in a brilliant white light, vaguely resembling that of the king's armiger magic. And somehow, now that Ignis was an actual dragon, he's even less what Gladio was expecting. In this form Ignis was all graceful, long limbs and plush feathers – and he's still _small_. Gladio didn't get long to stare. This dragon could fly and he was in the air raining hellfire down on the Amicitia almost faster than he could summon a shield, a real one this time.

The metal was still glowing hot when a heavy weight rammed against his shield, sharp claws grasping the edges before Gladio felt his feet leave the ground. _The heck was this thing so strong?_

Gladio didn't panic though; the ceiling was only so high for this room. If he was dropped it was probably going to hurt but he'd live. Releasing his connection to the shield, he slashed upwards with his greatsword. Ignis batted away the blade easily but Gladio fell before he could retaliate with those gnarly looking claws of his. The tail, not so much.

The floor came up to meet him much faster than he'd anticipated and Gladio tried to roll with the fall. It worked, somewhat. He'd just bruised his entire left side, and probably his pride, but he was able to climb dazedly back to his feet and just in time. Ignis wasn't messing around. Instead of the flames Gladio expected, it's suddenly freezing. Ice was creeping along his skin, making his teeth chatter and slowing his movements. The future shield looked up to see white tendrils of frosty air altering the temperature of the room and coiling around the dragon — the very same dragon that was now dive-bombing him like an enraged phantom of the Glacian. Gladio's pretty sure lesser men would have screamed.

With his muscles freezing up, Gladio was just able to bring up his sword in time to catch the dragon's horns against the blade. They each pushed against the other. Despite being smaller, Ignis was clearly stronger, forcing Gladio back several feet — but Gladio's weight was too centered to topple. He kept his feet firmly planted and far apart, hoping to disperse some of the dragon's momentum and take some of the pressure off the throbbing muscles in his arms.

For a moment it looked as though they might have reached an impasse. Then Gladio made the horrific mistake of trying to pull the dragon to the ground in a headlock. If he thought it had been cold before, it had nothing on direct contact with the dragon's surprisingly scale-like feathers. Gladio was reasonably certain he had frostbite now.

Oh, and Ignis bites. Wounded pride or not, Gladio was going to need a potion after this.

When Ignis stilled some of his writhing, Gladio thought the fight was almost over. That's until electric energy snaked up and down the dragon's form, zapping Gladio's arms and sending a prickly pins and needles sensation all down his abused flesh. The Amicitia wasn't really sure if he released the dragon or not, but the creature practically warped across the room, leaving behind a yellow afterimage reminiscent of the glaive's signature blue warp trail, before zipping back like a freight train.

Gladio barely managed to roll aside and bring up his shield, but he missed the long tail swiping out to knock his feet out from under him. He really needed to stop forgetting about that tail.

The next instant there's an open maw of sharp, pointy teeth poised just over his jugular and an uncomfortable weight pressed against his chest. "Do you yield?"

_Huh._ Gladio hadn't been expecting Ignis to be able to talk while he was a dragon. "Looks like ya got me, I yield."

Ignis quickly pulled away and gave Gladio some space, sitting back on his haunches and watching the Amicitia push himself up on shaky limbs with a critical eye.

Gladio found the attention a bit unnerving. But he barely made it to his feet before the dragon was back, pushing against his back to remedy his wobbling and sniffing at the mingled electric and frost burns decorating his hands. "Are you certain you're alright? Those look a touch serious. Why not allow me to fetch you a curative?"

Leaning awkwardly on the dragon at his side that moments ago had seemingly been trying to kill him, Gladio couldn't help losing it a little. His sudden laughter startled Ignis. "Guess I must really look like you put me through the ringer if you're getting this fussy. Tell me, you often help scrape your victims up off the pavement?"

Ignis ducked his head. "Apologies, I'm afraid I don't quite know my own strength as of yet. My magic is proving difficult to temper."

The embarrassment was so foreign on the thus far confident and near deadly creature that Gladio was shocked into another round of guffaws that continued until Ignis helped settle him on the mat against the wall. "I don't really know how it works for dragons, but we humans generally shove our victories in each other's faces and laugh at the loser's expense."

"I see; I'll try to remember the proper etiquette for our next bout then." Ignis changed back into a human and went to grab a hi potion from the stores at the far wall. Maybe it was Gladio's imagination but the transformation seemed less flashy this time around.

"Don't sweat it; I'll give you a demonstration next time." Ignis returned swiftly and the potion offered sweet relief to Gladio's aches and pains. He was able to jump to his feet with much greater ease. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it." Ignis was still examining him closely, as though he thought Gladio was such an invalid he might collapse at any moment. The dragon's behavior drug forth memories of little Iris hovering over him anytime he came home after any sort of training accident. It was kind of endearing. "Are you certain you require no further assistance?"

Gladio shook his head but couldn't keep the grin off his face. "All dragons such worrywarts?"

Ignis blinked up at the larger teen. "I'm afraid I've none to compare myself to."

"Ah, guess you're right." The idea hadn't really occurred to Gladio before, but he definitely hadn't seen any other dragons waltzing around. Probably made sense Ignis was the only one left. "Well, if you ever feel like a rematch look me up. I'll be in the training halls most days but we can spar anytime you want so long as I'm not on assignment from Cor or tailing Prince Noctis."

His offer must not have been what Ignis expected because his eyes got real wide and it took him a moment to compose one of his prim and proper replies. "Certainly, I would look forward to it."

Gladio later came to realize that he was one of the very few people authorized to know about Ignis' true identity and one of the even fewer people that the dragon could be completely himself around. As it turned out, they ended up sparing quite often.


	7. The Dragon and the Norduscaen Blockade

Chapter Summary: The boys show the marshal what they're made of.

* * *

Elemancy was dangerous, Noctis knew. The raw power of the natural elements never quite lost their untamed edge, even when channeled through the Crystal's chosen conduits. And it had the nasty tendency of snaking back around on the caster, either in the form of numbing feedback or thin, veining scars that branched out like roots burrowing into skin, when not handled with the specialized flasks meant for crafting the chaotic energy into neat little bombs of explosive magic that he'd always been instructed to use when Ignis was out of pocket.

Reaching out and syncing his magic with Iggy's was dangerous too – even after all their years of honing the technique in the Citadel training halls – but it never failed to spike his pulse with that volatile rush of adrenaline distilled with the primal thrill of tapping into vast reserves no human could have been able to contain alone. He felt invincible.

Together they unleashed a flurry of flames that burned longer and hotter than anything Noctis had ever managed on his own. 'Course, serving up some well-deserved payback to the Niffs probably had something to do with it too. The anger was still close to the surface, just simmering beneath his skin. He had gotten a bit better about not letting it get to him after the first few days of knowing about the Fall for a couple of reasons. Suffering the countless concerned looks the guys would be sending his way was one thing; knowingly drowning Ignis in his own outrage was another. Not that Ignis wasn't upset too. Noctis could feel that much through their connection, even if Iggy had always been much better at compartmentalizing that crap. Last thing they needed was to make him lose it and go off and burn down a village, or whatever it was dragons did to let off steam when there was no redundant paperwork handy to make disappear. But on top of that there was the added bonus of proving to Cor they could be trusted with jobs dealing with the imperials. Because despite all appearances, Noctis had no intention of moving on and forgetting what had been done to his home – how his father was killed in cold blood. As if in response to the turmoil within, the vortex of bright red embers spun wild from their open palms, nearly melting the thick plating right off the magitek armor's lower half and the metal quaked in distress under their combined assault.

"Don't get too flashy, you two," Cor barked from where he was busy slicing his katana through one of the MTs trying to circle around and surround them, most likely worried about the Niffs getting too suspicious of a couple of Insomnian fugitives capable of the kinda magical output that normally required at least five mage class glaives to pull off. Noctis' identity may have been a lost cause but Iggy's wasn't.

"Apologies," Ignis answered somewhat sincerely when all Noctis managed was an acknowledging grunt, ever one to try and take the rap for the both of them.

But Noctis really wasn't in a sharing mood today. "Yeah, you'll have to forgive us for getting a bit heated with the guys who rained hell down on Insomnia." He punctuated the statement by warping up to the machine's cockpit and driving a lance down through the protective glass. He was pretty sure he heard the imperial inside shriek like a little girl as the blade pierced his console.

"Just keep it in check," Cor scolded, already busy shredding the next MT.

"I suppose it would be rather remiss of us to lose our heads now." Ignis flung his daggers with more force than should've been strictly possible, practically annihilating the magitek armor's ankle joint and nearly toppling the whole thing.

"Just make sure you save some for the rest of us," Gladio roared as he swung his greatsword into the other leg. They had it now. Noctis would have liked to of finished off the pompous general in the tin suit himself, but after phasing through the third bullet in just as many minutes, he decided to shift his focus over to the snipers stationed at the tops of the shipping containers.

The first soldier flinched so hard he nearly fell when Noctis' sword stabbed into the metal at his feet and Noctis couldn't help but wonder if this particular squadron had ever been sent to face the glaives. The others yelled and turned their guns on him but Noctis was already moving. He cut through one shooter and then the next, working his way through their ranks.

Helping out Cor with the Norduscaen Blockade had been almost comically simple, right up until the nutjob in the MA-X Cuirass armor showed up. The imperial went by Loqi and seemed to have an unnatural obsession with bringing down Cor, having declared the _Legend of the Immortal_ was coming to an end. "No more fun and games, surrender yourselves and I will make your suffering quick."

"And this is your last chance to flee before we cleave your little toy in two." It was only their second time working with Cor since the Fall, but Noctis got the distinct impression that he wasn't particularly bothered by the threats on his life. He and the guys all pulled back as the imperial shouted angrily before lighting up the ground with some kind of electric shock field.

It was hard to believe that only a few days ago they'd all been dungeon crawling for ancient ghost weapons with a penchant for hovering in the air and flying right into his chest. That last part had been kinda weird, even if it hadn't exactly hurt. Noctis could still feel the phantom swell of power that was both exhilarating and exhausting in the same breath. The Sword of the Wise and the Axe of the Conqueror didn't exist in the same ethereal non-space as the rest of the weapons and supplies they collected. Calling on them wasn't quite like reaching out to Ignis either, but when he summoned their strength it was almost as if there was an answering tug.

"Uh, guys, he's about to send out more of those missals!" Prompto called as he reloaded his pistol from behind the scrap of cover he'd ducked behind that really should've been a more reasonable distance from the giant robot fight.

"Gladio!" Ignis turned to the shield.

"Right, going up!" Gladio held his sword out parallel with the ground, offering Ignis the perfect perch to hop on for a little boost. Between Gladio's strength and Iggy's own gravity defying leap, Ignis gained more than enough altitude to come down hard on the magitek missile launcher.

By the time Noctis dropped the last sniper the others were just getting clear of the resulting explosion. Magitek armors always did go out with a bang. It was too bad they had one more survivor than necessary.

Bruised, battered and singed, Loqi snarled from Monica's hold, "No! No! This cannot be happening! I will see all of your heads roll for this indignity!"

"I think all you'll be seeing is the inside of a cell for a while." Cor jerked his head toward the gates of the blockade. "Monica, you know what to do."

Loqi sputtered as Cor turned his back, steam practically blowing from the man's ears. "Heed my words, there will be nowhere left on Eos for you to hide. The Empire will smoke you all out like the pathetic vermin you are. No mythic beasts nor even the Astrals themselves will be able to protect you."

Cor frowned as the imperial was led away before he turned and addressed them, "A bit rough around the edges, but seeing you in action puts my mind at ease." And Noctis thought there might've even been a little pride hidden somewhere in Cor's usually impassive voice as he said it.

"Yeah, well, we're just getting started." Noctis didn't have to look behind him to know the others felt the same. Even Prompto, who certainly didn't have to be out here risking his neck, had already shown his resolve to stick with them.

"We've much to do to set things right," Ignis agreed at his side.

Cor nodded in acceptance. "True enough, the borders of Duscae are just beyond this blockade and much greater challenges and perils lie ahead. Watch your backs, it seems the Niffs are more well informed than we believed. I'll return to keeping an eye on them. Till next time, take care."

Noctis felt the subtle ripple of apprehension work its way through Ignis paired with a greater echo of his own curiosity and excitement. Their world just got a little bigger – a little more dangerous. But that was alright. After all, they had plenty of experience with dangerous.

* * *

_**Gralea, Niflheim**_

"So the prince eludes death. And what of his absent beast and the elusive ring?" Emperor Adlercapt's voice was light and reedy, seemingly blown this way and that by the whims of his childlike ambition. Surely all present could sense it – his powerlust and reliance on the darkness had already proven his undoing. It was only a matter of time until the scythe of fate dropped.

It should have presented a warning, an omen to all who sought to follow in his footsteps and invite the daemons close, but one glance around at the hungry looks that stalked the throne room only confirmed what Ravus already knew: there would be quite the bloodbath amidst the Imperial leadership once the feeble minded emperor commanded his last.

He remained at attention, subtly clenching his fists and being mindful of his new prosthetic. Its weight was not yet a familiar one – a small wonder that the contraption was able to be assembled and installed under such short notice. He'd best be wary that the Empire's boon did not prove his own end as well. "The dragon did not oppose us at the Wall. It was likely removed from the city before the signing. We have suspicions it may be in the hands of the fugitives." In truth, the empire had yet to witness such a creature on any front and had only the word of spies once stationed within the Citadel to verify its existence.

"As for the ring," Ravus continued. "Lunafreya has absconded with it."

"Find and kill her. The dragon and the ring are all I require," The emperor ordered without thought or concern for Ravus' familial connection to the oracle. But not all present were so oblivious.

"We may do well to take her alive as well. The Six wield power beyond our imagination. The oracle and dragon hold the keys for the king. Between them we could unlock many secrets, nay high commander?" Besithia aimed his crooked teeth at Ravus. "Lord Ravus, the imperial army is now at _your_ disposal."

"A moot point while the fugitives remain at large." Ravus moved to face Besithia, wiping the siliceous smirk right off his wrinkled visage. The fool was more asinine than he'd believed if he dared consider Ravus susceptible to his influence. Ravus addressed the emperor, "My men and I will continue our search."

The emperor did not reply. Instead, he watched the air above their heads, following delusions only he could fathom. "So glorious _my_ Crystal…"

Such a waste. Ravus clenched his metal fist again, just to feel the strain of the gears despite not being able to actually feel anything. He was already intimately aware the ring could not be swayed from the blood of Lucis, nor could his sister be brought to her senses. But the dragon, perhaps that strength might still be put to proper use once wrenched away from the coward's spawn. He would just have to flesh the beast out and see for himself.

* * *

Hmm, what are you planning Ravus?


	8. The Dragon and the Professor

Chapter Summary: Dragons don't like frogs.

Notes: I don't even know how to explain this…

* * *

Ignis stared down at the red frog sunning amidst the rocks of the Astor Slough's muddy shore with more caution than was likely warranted. The small creature croaked, seemingly perfectly harmless and unbothered by the shadow he cast over the warm rocks. Still, Ignis couldn't quite bring himself to stoop down and collect the amphibious specimen, something about the taunt crimson skin and bulging eyes setting his instincts on edge. He must've stared too long as he heard the others amble up behind him.

"Specs, don't even think about trying any new recipes. There's no way I'm eating one of these things." Ignis had to work hard at not letting himself retch or otherwise react to Noct's very suggestion of the idea.

"Yeah," Prompto agreed. "Who knows what that Sania chick would do to us if we tried."

Gladio scoffed. "What, you scared of her or somethin'?"

"Wha – No!" Prompto denied a little too quickly. "She just seems really intense, you know."

Ignis couldn't help but agree. He'd been hard pressed to place the unusual woman they'd come across at the edge of the Coernix Station parking lot, scouring his memories for the source of his nagging sense of déja vu. It wasn't until Gladio had shoved Noct towards the lady, professing to have chatted her up back at Hammerhead, that Ignis had finally recognized one reason Professor Sania was familiar. At the time, the more pressing concern of paying off the rather hefty debt of the Regalia's repairs had hung over their heads and he'd hardly paid more than a passing glance to the lady harassing the weapons merchant, having only really noticed the pair for the peculiar odor hanging about them. That same odor still clung heavily to the professor when they'd run into her again. It was an oddly pungent stench that made Ignis' stomach roll uncomfortably, and one he now knew to associate with the frogs she studied. How peculiar.

The other reason for the familiarity he felt in her presence was, of course, being that Dr. Sania Yeagre was actually a famed professor of biology with works published the world over. It had taken him a moment to make the connection to her prestigious standing, though he was likely not alone in that difficulty as one would hardly guess such from her youthful appearance and rather eccentric disposition. It was clear Dr. Sania preferred to get her own hands dirty when it came to matters of her research, even if she wasn't above enlisting unnamed strangers to wrangle together test subjects for her. Speaking of which, "Do we have all we need?"

Ignis was more thankful than he hoped he let on as Noct nodded, scooping up the last frog into the armiger. "Yep, should be enough. Let's go ahead and turn back."

"Good. It's about time we started heading for Lestallum." Gladio rolled his shoulders as they all moved back toward the steep incline leading up to the highway. It was easy to tell he was want to reunite with his sister after everything that had transpired.

"Whoa, wait! Hold on a minute! Do we have to?" Prompto practically begged, pulling on Noct's shoulder to get his undivided attention. "Come on, Noct, the chocobo ranch is way closer. Can't we just make a quick visit? Promise, it'll take no time at all."

Noct shrugged him off. "Uh, I guess it wouldn't hurt."

Frankly, Ignis simply hoped the famous birds of burden smelled better than the frogs did.

Gladio scoffed at Noct's easy cave to Prompto's pleading. "I got an idea. How 'bout we race for it – first one to the car gets to pick the next stop. You in?"

"What, that is totally not fair! Noct already said yes," Prompto whined. "Besides, you'll destroy me!"

"What, thought you were a runner." Gladio shoved the younger man forward, playfully.

Prompto squawked in offense. "Yeah, and your behemoth legs out stride mine by about ten feet. Seriously, dude, you're a giant!"

Noctis hung back a ways from Gladio and Prompto as the two chased each other up the hill, turning an assessing look on his advisor. "Hey, you doing okay? You seem… anxious."

_Blast._ It was always easy to forget how intuned Noct could be to the subtler emotions broadcast through their bond when he so chose – and, admittedly, his feelings of repulsion had possibly not been as discreet as he would have preferred. "I'm fine. Nothing requiring royal attention."

Noct quirked up an eyebrow. "You were staring down that frog like it might be poisonous or something."

Was that it? He supposed his instincts could be warning him of toxins hidden beneath the creature's slimy, red skin. Though typically indigenous to more tropical climates, brightly colored frogs were certainly capable of posing such a threat. He suddenly felt guilty at having allowed the others to do all the handling. "Let us hope not. I can't imagine Dr. Sania would fail to warn us if such is the case."

"Hmm, well, we'll be rid of the little guys soon enough. Don't keep it to yourself if you start to feel worse." Noct attempted a casual shrug, but he crowded closer in on the borders of his advisor's personal space all the same.

Excellent, now Ignis would have to contend with Noct's hovering, as his king was likely to watch his every move until he was convinced there truly was nothing bothering him – never mind that their dynamic was very much intended to work the other way around. Not that Noct had ever really been one to accept that excuse.

What was worse, when they returned to deliver the frogs to Dr. Sania, she seemingly noticed his exception to the little devils as well. At first, she had focused on bartering with Noct, attempting to secure their aid for further errands, which Noct thankfully had the sense not to promise upfront for once.

Not that the work lacked value. The world did seem to be taking a turn for the worse lately, though perhaps it just seemed that way with the recent invasion of their home and subsequent upheaval of their lives. But evidence did appear to suggest the world was suffering a lot of strange phenomena of late, as Dr. Sania put it.

It was only after she failed to obtain a definitive answer from Noct that she took notice of Ignis' mindful distance from her makeshift work station along with the pale pallor to his skin. "Hmm. you seem to be experiencing some sort of natural aversion to these lovelies. Most intriguing."

And Ignis wasn't sure he wanted to know what could have been going through her head as she roved keen eyes over his false form with something akin to intense curiosity. The look was not entirely dissimilar to the cool scientific interest he recognized from some of the less amiable physicians that had once paid him visit in the Citadel. He was not encouraged by the familiarity and attempted to brush off further discussion on the matter. "Simply feeling a bit pallid, nothing more."

"Really? Does this happen often? When did you last experience exposure to an amphibious variable? Have you encountered this subspecies before? Hmm, I imagine not, this mutation hasn't been on the scene long enough to become widespread. No, this won't do at all; I'm going to need more to work with. Would you be willing to part with a small saliva sample?"

Ignis stared down at the cotton swab presented to him at the end of the professor's unexpected ramblings. "I beg your pardon?"

"Come now, no need to be shy. We're talking about important data here and science waits for no one." Dr. Sania waved the swab impatiently.

"Ah, I'm afraid I must decline." The possibility of the professor learning anything of value from his saliva of all things seemed dubious but Ignis was not feeling particularly incautious at the moment.

Dr. Sania's enthusiasm didn't taper off at his refusal. She merely shook her head as if under the impression he was simply being difficult when presented with a perfectly reasonable request, "I see, so that's how you want to play it? Very well, I can be a patient woman when the need arises."

She let the subject drop after that, offering Noct a small compensation for their services and praised them for their efforts. But Ignis couldn't help but notice how she spoke as if their continued assistance was all but guaranteed – not to mention the speculative glances she kept aiming his way. He couldn't shake the feeling that the professor had gleaned something of value from the odd exchange.

It was only once they'd managed to extricate themselves from Dr. Sania and her impressive forwardness – with all his saliva intact, he might add – that Ignis noticed he'd somehow come under Gladio's scrutiny as well. "Yes, Gladio?"

The tall man blinked, still eyeing him with unusual intensity. "Huh, nothing, just never knew you had that kind of game is all."

"Game–?" Ignis began uncomprehending, only to be interrupted by Prompto.

"_Ohhh_, so that's why she's so interested in his spit… That's actually a kinda creepy stalkerish way to go about it," Prompto mused aloud before seeming to realize what he'd just said and waving his arms back and forth in a wild motion that was likely intended to be calming. "But, uh, in the sweetest way possible, I'm sure. Probably."

No doubt sensing his confusion, it was Noctis who finally allowed Ignis to derive any sort of meaning from the conversation, elbowing his side and waggling dark eyebrows comically. "What'd ya say, Specs? Bet she'd give up her number if you asked the lady nicely."

_Ah._ It was times like these where Ignis found some of the nuances of human culture to be rather tiresome. "You'll have to forgive me if I doubt _that_ to be the nature of Dr. Sania's attraction."

Noctis shrugged. "S'not like she has reason to study you for real. Out here you're just a normal – if weirdly formal – guy who possibly happens to be exactly her type."

"Yeah, she just really digs guys with, uh, frog allergies?" Prompto faltered helplessly. "Intolerance?"

"Naw, it's probably the accent," Gladio mused.

"Or the glasses," Noctis added.

Ignis shook his head at his friend's antics, already feeling the knot in his stomach unwind with every step made toward the Regalia. "Not to interrupt this rather… informative debate, but perhaps one of you would be so kind as to enlighten me to our next destination?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Prompto cleared his throat with a faux air that was most decidedly just for show before enunciating his words in a proper lilt that had Ignis considering if perhaps his accent was being mocked. "To the chocobo ranch, my good sir!"

Gladio rolled his eyes. "Still think you cheated, blondie."

"All's fair in love and chocobos." Noct teased, slipping into the backseat. It was only through many years of having Ignis as his helpful shadow that kept him from offering to take the wheel instead, knowing his advisor would not be comforted or appreciative of his driving.

Ignis couldn't help the slight smile that broke out on his lips. Their latest favor and resultant unplanned contribution to the scientific community may not have been the most enjoyable of experiences, but as the typical banter filled the Regalia's cab Ignis found his anxieties eased. It didn't hurt that they were now actively putting miles of road between themselves and the frogs of the Astor Slough.

Still, he couldn't help but hope they would not be crossing paths anytime soon with Dr. Sania Yeagre.

* * *

So… I found Dr. Sania to be one of XV's more interesting side characters with a lot of potential for humorous situations. I'm curious if anyone's interested in seeing more of her.


	9. The Dragon and the Behemoth

Chapter Summary: Behemoths, explosives and fires, oh my!

* * *

A thunderous roar rumbled out low and dangerous, quieting the surrounding wildlife and casting the Nebula Wood under an eerie silence. The growl tapered off into an ugly hissing snarl that sounded so much more threatening than any of the CGI monstrosities that had ever given Prompto mini heart attacks from the big screen. It brought them all up short as they witnessed several tall trees tilt and sway ominously before the trucks snapped and sent them crashing down to the ground just on the other side of a nearby outcropping of rocks. No one breathed a word until the echo of lumbering foot falls faded deeper into the dark forest.

Prompto licked his lips nervously. "So, ah, you guys think Ignis can take him, right?"

"Oh yeah, Deadeye won't know what hit him," Gladio huffed, but continued toward their target with noticeably more cautious movements. "Besides, what do you think the rest of are gonna be doing, sipping tea and passing around crumpets?"

"Aw, don't be that way, big guy," Prompto rushed to reassure, sensing Gladio might be getting just the tinsiest bit miffed at being glossed over for optimum powerhouse to cower behind. "I'm just saying, a behemoth might actually be more Ignis' size of opponent is all, not that you couldn't handle him. In fact, the two of you probably won't even notice if I just hang back. And think of all the awesome photos I could be getting …"

"If you truly believe the behemoth to be of so little challenge, perhaps I've no need to change skin at all." Ignis glanced over at the two of them with feigned annoyance – or at least Prompto thought it was feigned. With Ignis it was always kinda hard to say. "In any case, I'm confident that all we truly require is a sound plan of attack to deal with the beast."

"What! Nope, no way, we're gonna need you with the horns and the fangs in all your winged glory. Back me up here, Noct." Prompto turned to the only person possibly capable of convincing Ignis to come to his senses and realize that a baddie of these frightening proportions called for some dragon-sized firepower.

Ever helpful and attentive to his friend's plight, Noctis shrugged indifferently. "He can fight how he wants."

"Nooooct!" Prompto whined.

"We should get moving before the trail grows cold." Gladio was already heading further into the creepy forest.

"Better hurry up, don't want to miss out on those chocobos, right?" Noctis called back over his shoulder as he chased after his shield.

And dang it, but Noct had a point. This was the only way he was ever marking chocobo riding off his bucket list. "Hey, wait up!"

The rush turned out to be a bit unnecessary as they ended up following after a clear path of overturned trees and other miscellaneous signs of destruction. Apparently behemoths weren't the most graceful of creatures – or too worried about the environment for that matter. Deadeye proved easy enough to tail. They caught up to him while crawling through a dilapidated service tunnel and got a good look at the absolutely wicked scar taking up residence over the right side of the behemoth's face. The predator was completely blind in one milky, yellow eye and missing most of the length of his right horn. Even so, Deadeye still looked as terrifying as Prompto's graphic imagination had made him out to be, appearing to be almost entirely made up of solid muscle and jagged edges with a deafening roar that made your ears ache.

So they kept their distance and shadowed Deadeye to the abandoned ruins of a military facility of some kind where the behemoth appeared to be bedding down for the night. There were oil drums and other assorted equipment left scattered carelessly about and Ignis quickly devised a plan.

Noct played their bait, warping out of cover to get the unsuspecting behemoth's attention. It didn't take much. Deadeye was up and moving their way within moments of spotting Noct.

Prompto held his position as Gladio stepped in, getting a solid hit on the unprepared behemoth and driving it within range of a cluster of oil drums and spare fuel canister. At Ignis' signal Prompto took his shot, igniting the mass of improvised explosives. Their DIY bomb went off without a hitch and Deadeye writhed in pain from the blast, keeling over on his stomach when Noct warped in and stabbed his engine blade deep into the back of the beast's beefy neck.

Afterwards Prompto approached the downed behemoth with the others, exchanging a quick victory fist bump with Gladio. That had been utterly horrifying, but also kind of amazing. It was really too bad Deadeye didn't stay down.

Noct's muttered "Not good" was their only warning before the behemoth jerkily rose to its feet, and boy was he not happy. Deadeye twisted violently, dislodging Noct from his shoulders and batting the prince far across the ruins with a swing of its powerful tail.

"Get to Noct!" Ignis' command pulled Prompto out of his terrified stupor and the blond scrambled to obey, rushing to Noct's side and dragging him up off the ground just in time to feel the rising heat at their backs. He didn't have to look to know Ignis wasn't playing at looking human anymore.

The dragon had planted himself along with a wall of fire between them and the behemoth while Gladio stood guard, hovering close so Prompto had time to slip Noct a potion. The prince accepted the curative and his friend's hand up to his feet just as the behemoth burst through the flames, charging in a blind rage. And while Prompto had thought Deadeye's angry roar was intimidating, it lacked the sharp, protective edge that made the sound that came out of Ignis so very chilling. The behemoth had made a mistake in hurting Noct. Prompto didn't know all the gritty details of the mystical, sci-fi link between royal and dragon, but they'd picked enough fights with the local wildlife by now that he recognized injuring Noct was one way to get on Iggy's bad side in a hurry.

Prompto's heart nearly stuck in his throat when Ignis met Deadeye head-on, lowering his horns and charging right into the purple mass of muscle. The two clashed explosively, the smaller dragon incredibly holding back the bulk of the behemoth and giving them all a huge opening. Prompto moved to take aim at the monster's flank, hoping the bullets at least stung enough to be distracting. Noct and Gladio didn't hesitate either. Now that Iggy had Deadeye stopped in his tracks the two of them were able to get close and hack at the oversized legs of the behemoth without worrying about getting swiped at.

Deadeye howled in pain, thrashing and pushing against Iggy with everything he had, but the dragon didn't budge. Belatedly, Prompto realized Ignis hadn't went for the behemoth's blindside – where the nub of its damaged horn had much less chance of getting at the dragon – when a resounding pop Prompto felt all the way down in his toes echoed across the clearing, right before something long and heavy crashed to the ground between the clashing titans. Deadeye's remaining horn had snapped clean off.

The behemoth wailed, staggering back and unable to defend itself when Ignis let out a stream of molten fire against its hide. The fight didn't last much longer after that and the dehorned beast soon fell silent and motionless.

And just like that, they'd done it. They'd taken down their first behemoth. The rush wasn't like anything Prompto had been expecting – of course he hadn't really expected anything beyond being scared out of his mind. But now that the adrenaline was draining out of his system and his heartbeat was returning to a somewhat normal tempo he had enough presence of mind to snap a few pics of his friend still towering over their bounty. He was even lucky enough to catch a glimpse of lips pulled back in an uncharacteristic, angry snarl before Iggy pulled back and returned to looking a bit more human-like and Prompto couldn't keep his excitement at bay any longer. "Dude, that was awesome!"

Ignis subconsciously adjusted his glasses. "It was nothing special. Is everyone alright?"

"We're good, Specs." Noct placed his hand against the fallen horn to store it away in the armiger.

Gladio nodded appreciatively. "That oughta set us up for a while."

"Does that mean we get baths tonight? Please tell me we're getting baths," Prompto begged, not really sure of who he was asking since the decision tended to flip flop between Noct and Ignis depending on how inconsiderate Ignis believed Noct was being of his more developed sense of smell.

Ignis readjusted his glasses while probably doing some lightning fast calculations in that big brain of his. "With the funds we should procure from the bounty, not to mention the severed horn, it shouldn't be out of the question. Noct?"

Noct shrugged. "Works for me."

"Woo-hoo, bath time!" Prompto cheered before snapping a shot of the others standing in front of a crumbling pillar. "But man, did you guys see that clash? I kinda figured you would have dive bombed him from the air or something, Iggy. But you just stopped that behemoth cold."

Ignis shook his head. "It would have been too risky to fly this close to the Chocobo Post. In all likelihood Wiz would have simply posted another bounty for a mysterious flying beast and then we'd be right back where we started – with no chocobos to rent."

"Oh man, chocobos! I almost forgot – Noct, can we, please!"

Noct chuckled at this friend's antics. "I thought a bath was your number one priority."

"Um, excuse you, chocobos are always the number one priority! But food and baths, we should definetly get those too." Because Prompto's stomach was kinda trying to eat itself whole now that he thought about it.

"What cha' think, Iggy? Behemoth short ribs?" Gladio suggested.

"I don't see why I couldn't try my hand at a new recipeh." Ignis rolled his sleeves up.

As it turned out, watching Ignis butcher a behemoth was nearly as terrifying as fighting one had been. But at least dinner made it all worth it.


	10. The Dragon and the Confidant

**4 years ago**

Chapter Summary: Prompto learns a secret.

* * *

Telling Prompto was long overdue. It hadn't even been possible until Noctis had moved out into his own place since his friend wasn't on the _approved_ list of people in the know about what Ignis really was. Then he'd had to wait a few weeks more until security calmed down and realized that no, nobody was crazy enough to try to take on a squad of crownsguard to sneak into the Lucian Prince's apartment and that no, said prince didn't plan on jumping out any of the twenty-fourth story windows to escape his overqualified babysitters and run amuck unsupervised in the city lost to some misguided bout of teenaged rebellion.

Everything had to appear breathtakingly normal and unremarkable. Prompto came over on a Friday night after school just like always, loaded down with junk food they'd usually try to consume after Ignis departed for the evening to help keep them wired far into the early hours of the morning. It was a perfectly routine kickoff to the weekend for a couple of unindustrious high school students dreading the coming Monday. The only deviation from the norm – tonight Ignis would be staying.

The advisor arrived shortly after Prompto with his own contribution of nourishment, which he used to prepare a truly visionary homemade pizza that would have been perfection if not for the handful of mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes the dragon had managed to conceal beneath the melted mozzarella. Not long after the kitchen was cleaned up, Noctis requested Ignis inform the security personnel he knew kept a little too close of an eye on his apartment that he was about to close all the curtains so that they could play a video game that required total darkness to be experienced in full and to ignore any odd sounds as Prompto couldn't help screaming his head off during this kind of stuff. His advisor seemed suspicious at first but once Prompto joined in with earnest begging of his own Ignis relented and a short while later gave the go ahead. Noctis was quick to see every window in the apartment covered. He then cranked up the volume on a live playthrough of a popular horror game on the PS4 before dimming the lights.

By this point Prompto was watching him with barely contained impatience – Noctis had only told his friend to play along with the added incentive of seeing something top secret for his cooperation – and Ignis crossed his arms, clearly awaiting an explanation. "I don't suppose you'd care to share what it is you're actually planning, Highness?"

Now that privacy was taken care of, Noctis locked eyes with his advisor. "Yeah, tonight we're telling Prompto."

Ignis visibly tensed. His eyes cut over to an oblivious Prompto, gaze piercing, searching for some abstruse criteria that only he could see. Noctis was aware his advisor did not trust easily, especially not with the secrets charged to him by his king, but this was Prompto. The two of them have known each other for a while now. At first, Ignis had politely tolerated the rather forced addition of the energetic, upbeat teenager into his life, but more recently had started to warm up to Prompto. The two of them actually got on quite well, even teaming up occasionally to talk Noctis out of a few of his more reckless impulses. "You wish to keep his knowledge from your father?"

"Yeah, actually. Dad's way too uptight about this. I know you don't like going behind his back, but you know Prompto. He can keep a secret, especially one this important. Plus, he's our friend; I don't like lying to him all the time." There, Noctis had revealed his hand. All that was left was to be patient and hope Iggy took the bait.

Ignis didn't respond immediately, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed; the guilt trip hadn't exactly been subtle but if all went well tonight Ignis would have one more confidant, someone he didn't have to hide from anymore. Also, there was the indisputable fact that if Ignis didn't cave Prompto would be endlessly at his heels fishing for details, most likely in public.

For his part, Prompto stood up straighter, not comprehending the significance of Ignis' scrutiny but made all the more anxious and maddenly enraptured by the mention of the king's secrets. "Hey, what's this all about anyway? It's not one of those _you'd tell me but then you'd have to kill me_ type things, right? Oh man, Ignis has super powers doesn't he? I knew it! Dude is way too good at everything. I bet he has laser vision, or maybe super speed? Can you fly? Wait, is he reading my mind right now?" Prompto hurriedly covered his forehead with his hands. "Please tell me you're not doing that!"

"Prompto, I'm not a telepath," Ignis replied dryly. A pointed look from Noctis, however, pulled a long suffering sigh from the advisor. "Flying, on the other hand, is not entirely out of the question."

Prompto finally dropped his hands away from his face. "Wait, like you can fly a helicopter or something? That's so cool, dude!"

"Not exactly." Ignis moved away from the two younger teens to the center of the living space where Noctis has already pushed all the furniture back against the walls. "It will likely be far more efficient if I just show you. I'll ask you to stand back if you don't mind, and for the love of Shiva, please do not panic."

Prompto leaned in close so Noctis could catch his bewildered murmur, "Why would I panic?"

The brief flash of Ignis' transformation was well concealed by the apartment's blackout curtains and thankfully Prompto's resulting squeal of excitement could easily be misconstrued as a result of the videogame feed blasting in the background.

Also thankfully, Prompto managed not to freak out at the revelation that one of his closest friends just so happened to be a fantastical creature of legend. He slowly approached the dragon now casually curled across from them on the living room floor, hand held out as if he expected Ignis to sniff it or something. "Man, th-that's really you? Why didn't you say something sooner? This is so awesome!"

"I suppose I can never be sure of what reaction I'll evoke. Not to mention, my mere existence is a matter of upmost secrecy to the crown, I hope you'll understand, Prompto." Ignis was a little harder to read as a dragon — at least for everyone not getting an empathic read off him through a magical connection. The only visible sign that Prompto's attentions had flustered the advisor at all was the extra fluff of his feathers.

"Dude, you can totally count on me!" Prompto's tone was as light as ever, easily playing down the lingering tension in the room, but there was something in the set of his shoulders and the determined gleam in his eyes that gave away the seriousness of his pledge. "I won't let you down."

Ignis dipped his head in acknowledgment. "Of that, I have no doubt."

Ignis' easy acceptance had Prompto grinning ear to ear. He boldly stepped into the dragon's space, barley able to keep himself from poking at the lustrous feathers. Ignis couldn't exactly smile like this but his eyes gleamed as he lowered his head well within Prompto's reach and allowed the younger teen easy access to his curving red horns and the prominent crest of feathers at his crown that kinda resembled the way he styled his hair fluffed up like a cockatrice sometimes. Prompto handled the rare opportunity with unexpected reverence. "Wow, so soft."

"Yeah, unless he doesn't want them to be," Noctis remarked in an off-handed manner.

"Wait, you can change them? Like, how?" Prompto eyes could not possibly get any wider as he checked out the deadly sharp crystalline spikes positioned near the back of Ignis' jaw.

"It's rather simple really; in situations of duress their makeup is instinctively altered, increasing in durability and sharpness. Think of it as a natural defense, if you will. My feathers are impervious to fire and strongly resistant to elemental damage." Ignis' effortless way of projecting that same lecturing, no nonsense tone while explaining his own physiology without making it sound the least bit like bragging just seemed to add to Prompto's awe.

"Basically, if you make him mad his feathers can cut you." Noctis smirked when Prompto suddenly pulled back from where he'd started ogling the hawklike pattern on Ignis' wings.

"Wicked," Prompto exclaimed. "So, what do we do now?"

"Oh, I was sorta thinking that for once we'd try doing what the guards actually think we're doing." Noctis shrugged with well-practiced nonchalance. "You know, sit around the TV playing video games like normal people."

"Stranger things have come to pass I suppose." Ignis relaxed further onto the area rug that took up most of the living space, stretching out with feline-like grace before resting his head on neatly crossed forepaws. Noctis was pleased his friend didn't seem inclined to alter back into his human form. More often than not Ignis was reluctant to spend much time as himself even though Noctis knew it was more comfortable for him.

Prompto seemed to take the behavior for the good sign that it was and eagerly plopped down at the dragon's side to lean against his shoulder. Noctis claimed his advisor's other side and together they played some tacky shooter game that had Prompto screeching at jump scares and Ignis nitpicking the story's subpar plot. By the end of the night they were all passed out on the living room floor in a hopeless tangle of feathers and limbs. Noctis counted it as a win.

* * *

So… unfortunately, after this chapter updates are going to become a bit more sporadic. Life has just been really hectic lately and it's eating into my writing time. I am not by any means giving up on this story. I already have an ending that I'm working toward and there's so much more I want to do with Dragon!Ignis and the other bros. I hope you guys will stick around for what comes next. As always, thanks for reading!


	11. The Dragon and the Frozen Tomb

Chapter Summary: Out of the frying pan into the freezer.

I'm finally ready with my next update and boy is it long. I hope that helps make up for the wait. Thanks to everyone for being so patient and for those celebrating Thanksgiving I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

* * *

Lestallum was like a dream – a hot, sweaty dream where you couldn't do a thing with your hair because the humidity was clearly on steroids – but a dream all the same. Driving through the stretch of tunnel up to the city limits had felt like crossing over into another dimension, leaving behind the dangers and isolation of the wilderness for the first time since the kickoff of their extended roadtrip. Apparently after weeks on end of roughing it in the great outdoors and breezing through dinky outposts, visiting actual, honest to Shiva cities started to feel pretty surreal. Who knew?

In spite of the heat, Prompto couldn't wait to go sightseeing. Even from the view offered up by the overlook lot off the highway he could already tell there was going to be something new and exciting to be found around every corner. They even had a cable car! He snapped as many photos as he could get away with without being left behind, falling in line with the others in Gladio's wake as they tried to make sense of the weaving footpaths without standing out too much in a sea of pedestrians racing through the mealtime rush.

Lestallum, as it turned out, was a busy place. More people than Prompto had seen packed together like sardines since the day they'd left the Crown City behind were all around them – vendors shouting from stalls, women decked out in coveralls migrating to and from their daily shifts, children chasing each other underfoot – the locals thriving on uneven streets baked beneath the midday sun and influence of the nearby meteor that gave the city its livelihood.

It was easy to tell there was an entirely different life in this place from Insomnia. Shaped more by the surrounding landscape, buildings slanted and crowded together to an organic rhythm that never would have fit the more orderly mold of the Crown City, but the resemblance to home was still there. Under the veneer of exotic flavor and aroma of spicy street fair was that familiar sense of steady security. Here people were living their lives regardless of the chaotic turmoil churning just beyond their borders and tomorrow they'd all be getting out of bed and doing just the same. Prompto hadn't even realized how much he'd missed that.

They found the Leville in the fountain square tucked near the back of the sweltering city, but just as they approached the front entrance something strange happened. Prompto almost missed the first step up to the lobby because the ground under their feet started to shake. "Whoa, do you guys feel that?"

Gladio huffed. "What, you mean the earthquake?"

Behind them Noct stumbled a little, hissing as he clutched at his head.

The noise had Gladio turning around and frowning as Noct all but folded in on himself in obvious pain. "Noct, you alright?"

Prompto wrung his hands nervously when all Noct did in way of an answer was offer a strained grunt – a pretty succinct way of getting the point across, even by Noct's standards. He also couldn't help but notice Ignis being oddly inattentive, stiffly starring back the direction they'd just come, almost in a daze. Weird. Normally Noct couldn't get a stumped toe past the dragon. Prompto glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Hey, everything okay?"

As the ground seemed to settle down, Noct straightened back up but he was still rubbing at the side of his head and his skin was looking pretty clammy. "Sorry, my head just started throbbing."

Gladio crossed his arms skeptically. "So when the ground shakes your brain aches?"

Noct frowned. "Yeah, heard this voice. And there were these images, a hole in the ground… something burning… the Meteor?"

"The Disk of Cauthess. A summons from the Archaean no less," Ignis suddenly spoke up.

Noct lowered his hand and shot a bewildered look at his advisor. "Wait, you got all that too?"

Ignis nodded. "We are all linked through the Crystal after all."

Gladio cocked an eyebrow. "So the Astrals are just sending out open invitations now?"

And, yeah, Prompto had to agree that didn't exactly sound normal. "Huh, thought the oracle was the only one who had to deal with this sorta thing."

"Among humans, normally," Ignis agreed. "Though perhaps we should not discount her involvement prematurely."

"Wait, do you think that means Luna…," Noct started hopefully.

Ignis nodded. "I can't imagine anyone else could have managed to wake the Archaean."

Gladio glanced between the two of them. "Huh. Guess that means we'll be scheduling a trip down to the Disk."

"Great, one more thing," Noct sighed.

Only they didn't go to the Disk. At least, not right away. Iris had been waiting on them in the lobby and from there they were swept up in a whirlwind of reunions, talk of Insomnia and later exploring all Lestallum had to offer. She kicked them all out of the Leville early the next morning – well, all of them except Noct – saying something about wanting to catch up. And while there may have been a scheming glint in her eyes as she'd hurried them along, if Gladio's big brother senses weren't tingling then Prompto wasn't gonna question it too much. So he and the rest of the guys toured the town with Talcott as their adorable, miniaturized guide. The little guy was full of enthusiasm as he gave a nonstop commentary on everything he'd learned about Lestallum from the Meteor overlook to the power plant all the way on the other end of the city, but it wasn't till they'd returned from visiting the Partellum Market that Talcott gave them a lead they couldn't ignore.

A legendary sword hidden behind a waterfall sounded like the start to the type of fun adventures that you would expect from the hottest new RPG. It definitely wasn't. Because sneaking past the literal, giant snake hanging about the entrance and fighting their way through the small horde of angry crab pincers up to the frozen caverns to get to the legendary sword hidden behind the waterfall was extremely not fun and considerably less surreal than entering Lestallum had been. And how messed up was it that descending into a daemon infested, freezing ice cave of doom felt more like a typical Tuesday afternoon than experiencing proper civilization?

Prompto shivered from the sudden temperature 180. "Brrr. This place gives me goose bumps."

"Out of the frying pan into the freezer," Ignis acknowledged wryly.

"So, double back for some coats?" Prompto proposed hopefully, because he actually hadn't bothered to pack anything with sleeves. Not like they'd originally planned for any stops between sunny Galdin and the reportedly temperate Altissia.

Gladio gave him a playful shove between the shoulder blades as he ambled past, moving deeper into the cave. "What's the point? A little chill won't kill ya."

And of course Gladio wasn't concerned about a _little_ chill. It was a well-documented fact that the big guy was basically a human furnace, almost as immune to the changes in the weather as their resident dragon. Speaking of which, maybe Ignis wouldn't mind if he stood a little closer than was strictly socially acceptable to soak up some of that dragon core warmth. Unlikely, but worth a shot.

Unfortunately, when Ignis signaled them all to a stop a handful of steps later, frowning into the darkness just outside the reach of their torches, it wasn't to question why his personal space was being maliciously encroached upon. "Daemons ahead."

"Great. Our warm welcome." Prompto eyed the flan that started pooling out of the ground with distaste.

"Ugh, daemon jello," Noct groaned.

"Come on, this won't take long." And with all the finesse of one wielding a ridiculously huge sword nearly as long as they were tall, Gladio bashed the first flan in before it could finish forming. The others followed soon after with a few quick warpstrikes and a small fireball courtesy of Iggy, the excess heat of which even helped keep the chill at bay, not that it lasted, but at least the daemons were good for something.

It's not far past their first encounter with the flan – there were definitely a lot more of them – that they hit a bit of a snag. Said snag being that the cavern floor abruptly gave way to a steep drop coated in slick ice. And, of course, it's the only way forward.

"Whelp, so much for the mystical, mystery sword of legend. Maybe we'll have better luck next time." Promtpo turned on his heel back toward the entrance.

Gladio snatched the back of his vest. "Don't be a wuss."

Noctis squinted as he tried to see the end of the icy incline with the torch clipped onto his shirt. "Wonder how far it goes."

"Hmm, in this light, hard do say." Ignis frowned. "Only one way to _see_ where it leads."

Prompto stared nervously down at the dark abyss the others were all preparing to bodily throw themselves down. "You guys can't be serious. There's no telling what's down there. What if we go down and can't get back up? What if it never actually ends and we're just falling forever? What if it's even _colder_ at the bottom?"

Noctis scoffed as if these weren't all very real concerns. "Would you relax? Iggy can always fly us back up if we get stuck."

Ignis huffed. "Assuming there is enough room to do so."

"It'll be fine. Everybody ready?" As per usual, Noct didn't wait for any kind of confirmation before jumping feet first down the ominous ice slide. Also per usual, everybody else scrambled after him in case everything wasn't _fine –_ and for a few terrifying moments Prompto can't decide what's worse, the slightly damp chill acquainting itself with his backside or the wild, frictionless decent into the dark unknown. The slope of the slide dropped out from under them approximately six feet above the actual bottom of the fall, right on top of some particularly cranky imps. Prompto was pretty sure his tailbone would never forgive him.

The imps didn't go down as easily as they probably should have. The ground was slippery in places, making it hard to get any kind of traction, and Prompto's not sure if it's getting colder the deeper they go or if it had more to do with how long they've been down in the cave, but the freezing air was starting to get to them in earnest. Even Gladio started shivering enough to pull out an actual shirt from the armiger and Prompto was working really hard not to let his teeth knock together too hard. It'd probably only attract more daemons.

Unfairly, the only thing for it was to keep moving – that and maybe fantasizing about a nice warm bowl of soup of unprecedented proportions. Mm, soup. Maybe Ignis could be talked into whipping some up when this nightmare was all over.

It was tragic his foodie fantasies had to be put on hold by another frozen slip-n-slide. Noct sighed as he looked down at the unwelcome sight. "Again, really?"

"Ugh, do we have too?" Prompto didn't even care that his plea was leaning more toward an all out whine because of course they have to. And he couldn't even take a moment to be slightly placated about not being the only one less than thrilled at the prospect because there was a hungry arachne waiting on them at the bottom – which Prompto totally did not scream at the sight of no matter what anyone said – followed by a harrowing trip across a much too narrow ledge. So, yeah, he was maybe a little more than relieved when Noct finally called them all over for a break around a couple of elemental deposits.

He very greedily held his hands over the blessed warmth generated by a natural well of fire elemancy as if paying homage to some unknown cave deity while watching Noct run between it and a nearby lightning deposit with a new flask. Prompto's not sure how those worked exactly but Noct looked like he was somehow fusing fire and lightning together into a single bottle.

Gladio eyed the finished flask with a little more comprehension. "That looks unstable."

Noct shrugged. "It'll be fine. Just makes a bigger bang."

"Just mind that the bang doesn't backfire," Ignis warned, returning from a quick recon while the rest of them had been warming up. "This path could well lead us to what we're looking for. It would be a shame to make a mess of your ancestor's resting place."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get moving." Noct made the flask disappear in the blue sparks of the armiger.

Turned out they really didn't have to explore much further. They found the door to the tomb past another precarious ledge at the next open section of cave. A big portion of the back wall was taken up by a hollowed out vault of ice opening up over their heads and reflecting light down into the space. The unique feature almost distracted them entirely from something gross and tentacley spawning from the shadows along with more flan and imps.

"Well, that's mildly horrifying." Prompto was seriously starting to wonder if the ancient mystery sword was really worth half this much trouble.

"Mindflayer," Ignis supplied. "Best to exercise caution. They're reported to breathe enervating gas that weakens prey before sucking the life out of them. Resistant to ice, but susceptible to spear attacks and lighting elemancy."

"Great, I'll just not be getting close to that, then!" Prompto removed the safety from his gun and moved to circle around for easier access to the daemons' blind spots and hopefully far out of reach of those tentacle arms.

"Doesn't look too scary." Noct summoned his engine blade and wasted no time throwing it into the Mindflayer's middle, warping right behind it. The daemon screeched in agony and suddenly there were more globs of daemon miasma surging up from the dark corners of the chamber.

"He never listens," Ignis sighed before neatly sending his daggers into the imps attempting to strike at Noct's unguarded flank as he pulled his sword loose from the larger daemon without getting caught in its flailing tentacles.

"Tell me about it," Gladio grumbled before taking his own sword into the fray, cutting down the flan slowly making their way across the frozen ground.

It was a bit hairy, running around on the slick ice, but they were starting to get the hang of it. Prompto dropped to the ground and slid under an imp that had just lunged for his face, filling its underside with lead in the process.

"Nice one, Prom," Noct complemented, dancing back as the mindflayer made another slimy grab toward his person.

"Kid's picked up a few things." Gladio spun past him to rip into the next flan.

And Prompto couldn't help but beam at the praise. Sure, they still may have been stuck in a daemon infested, freezing ice cave of doom, but it was nothing they couldn't handle – or it wasn't until a lot more mindflayers started springing up. "Um, guys?"

"Seems more reinforcements have arrived," Ignis growled, spearing the original mindflayer with his fire-tipped lance and making the daemon crumple in a heap of burning shadows.

"Then let's even the odds.?" Noct pulled the flask from earlier out of the armiger. "You did say they were weak to lightning."

Before anyone could think better of it, Noct lobbed the flask into the center of the mob of fresh mindflayers and the resulting whirlwind blast of fire and lighting was more devastating than any of them were prepared for. Prompto felt his feet leave the ground a moment before he was thrown flat on his back up against the far wall of the chamber. He blinked back dizzily at where the daemons had all but disintegrated into a dark stain of evaporating daemon miasma. Huh. Well, looked like Ignis was right about the lightning.

But any feelings of victory were quickly drowned out by the loud crack that echoed like a death toll off the cavern walls. It's not the last. Dread quickly rose with the swell of shifting ice as they watched the fine fractures spiderwebbing across the ceiling of the cave. Prompto felt small chunks of ice like pebbles breaking off from above and bouncing off his scalp in a rain of diamond dust. Then the bigger stuff started to come down too. Tearing his eyes away from the cracks, he scrambled to get back up onto his feet. "I think we should start running now!"

Noct was thankfully on the same wavelength. "Crap! Everyone, get back!"

"We're not gonna make it!" Gladio already had his shield out, trying to bulldoze his way through the falling ice as he ran. "Noct, you need to warp to safety."

Prompto thought he might have heard Noct protest but then he lost track of everyone because a big section of the ceiling broke loose and started coming down directly over his head and he was kinda busy watching his short life flash before his eyes – so it was a bit jarring when the tons of frozen rock never actually squished him to death. He peaked between his fingers that had at some point come up to cover his eyes to see Ignis, transformed and reared back on his hind legs, pushing up against the collapsing segment of ice.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Gladio motioning him toward the exit. "Prompto, get your butt outta there!"

And Prompto didn't need to be told twice. Not that it mattered when more of the ceiling started to break away – super speed or cool teleportation powers would have been totally helpful in this moment – and even Ignis couldn't hold it all.

The first impact between the falling ceiling and the cave floor crashed down hard with a deafening force that knocked Prompto to his knees. The next came just as forcefully and made the floor shatter, a dark void swallowing up the pieces and Prompto with them. The fall was quick. He didn't quite remember landing so much as having his momentum come to a screeching halt, wrenching his ankle and bruising the hell out of his knees and one of his elbows. But he was still breathing and definitely not crushed to death, so he was willing to count himself at least semi-lucky.

Looking up, or the direction he felt hazily confident was up, he could sorta make out the glow of the other's torches swinging about in the chamber above along with some panicked murmuring. It looked like the cave had settled somewhat as there didn't seem to be anymore debris falling down around him. Weird, he'd been sure the whole thing was coming down. And now that he was thinking about it he should probably announce that he wasn't dead. Yeah. He should do that. "Um, in case anyone's wondering, I'm alive!"

One of the torch lights spun down close to where he was sprawled and he recognized Gladio's _crisis voice_ when he shouted down. "Prompto, don't move. We're coming to you."

And Prompto was kinda relieved because he's not so sure how much he wanted to move around at the moment anyway. "You got it!" But it's also pretty dark down in this place so he flicked back on his own torch, thinking it'd make him easier to find, and came nose to nose with something huge and snarling and in ownership of seemingly hundreds of sharp teeth sparkling in the harsh lamp light. He yelped, skidding back until he was butted up against the fallen rubble at his back.

"Guys, there's something down here, and it's something big!" Though it was also being strangely still – like the _not breathing_ kind of still.

It wasn't until Noct warped down to join him, bringing with him the light of his own torch that Prompto realized what he'd been looking at. "Dude, is that what I think it is?"

Noct stared for a moment, the battle tension slowly easing out of his stance. "Yeah. Yeah it is."

"What do you guys see down there?" Gladio's concerned shout echoed from above.

"Found a relative of Specs'!" Noct called back.

The dragon was massive, easily several times bigger than Ignis, though with a body that was more serpentine length than anything and that wasn't were the differences ended. Covered in jewel-like feathers that could've been cut from emeralds and some pretty elaborate armor this dragon rose up like something ancient that hardly seemed mortal. Two of its gold tipped wings were stretched wide from one end of the hidden tomb to the other and blocked most of the light leaking down from above. Prompto almost missed the second, smaller pair of wings spread out over its hips and there was definitely some type of red gemstone embedded in the helmet over its head. He tried to stand and get a better look but if Noct hadn't been there he would've landed right back on his half-frozen rear. "Hey, how 'bout you try a potion first this time?"

"Thanks." Prompto crushed the offered curative in his fist, feeling the pain he'd been trying to ignore slowly bleed away. "Guess the sprain was a little worse than I thought."

Together they slid off the fragments of cave ceiling Prompto had landed on down to the feet of the dragon statue – or what he would've assumed was a statue if it didn't look so very alive. There was a fancy plaque in front of it and Prompto angled his torch down over the words. _Rydia_, it read,_ may peace welcome you at journey's end, my dearest friend. _

Prompto blinked between the oddly personal inscription and the typical royal setup of the enclosed tomb. "I don't get it. Why is she frozen like that?"

"It's petrification magic." Noctis answered. "My, uh, ancestors used to do it sometimes."

"It was not an uncommon practice to bury loyal dragons alongside their bonded kings." Iggy called down – never quite able to resist elaborating on Noct's often minimalistic explanations – but there was a strain in his voice that suggested he was still holding up what was left of the ceiling. Otherwise he'd probably be going into much greater depth.

"Oh. Cool, I guess." Prompto looked back up at the frozen dragon. It was kinda sweet that the king had thought of Rydia as his friend. Even with how close Noct and Iggy were, Prompto got the feeling that wasn't always the norm. He guessed even in ancient times friends probably made all the bad stuff better. Prompto was certainly glad _he_ wasn't alone in the frozen ice cave of doom. "You know, once you get past the teeth and the, uh, murderous expression, she's kinda beautiful."

And she was. More than just the vibrant coloring or the regal ornaments, there was sorta this latent grace about her and the contortions of her body to fit the confines of her underground resting place – almost fluid. A bit like a cat really.

"Yeah… Come on, I see a stairway in the back. Think it leads up to the king's tomb?" Noct pointed to an open doorway nestled behind the dragon's coiled tail, which was probably pretty handy on account of the cave in probably having cut off the only other way inside.

"One way to find out."

"You guys better step on it; Iggy can't hold up the ceiling forever!" And they couldn't really see Gladio's face from down here without shining a torch into it but the big guy sure sounded worried.

"Right, on our way." And the two of them didn't waste any more time racing up the steps and into the Wanderer King's Tomb. Just like all the creepy ghost weapons before it, the sword did its little light show before making a quick nosedive into Noct's chest and joining the armiger in a cascade of crystalline sparks. After that was settled, they climbed back out as fast as their weary feet could take them, but by the time they're out of the tombs the ominous cracking had started back up again and that really wasn't a good sign.

"Guys, over here!" Gladio called them over from behind where Ignis stood, the chilling fog of his magic saturating the air in a fine mist that did nothing to disguise the subtle tremors running up his body from the continued effort of pushing back the literal tons of ice on his shoulders. He must have used ice elemancy to help reinforce the unstable ceiling somehow.

Still, Ignis looked about spent so they didn't question it, rushing past Iggy and out the entrance of the chamber. "Okay, we're clear!" Noctis called back as soon as they reached Gladio.

Ignis didn't budge for another moment, probably just to ensure that they really were clear, before all at once dropping the ceiling and using his lightning magic to zip back, simultaneously changing form to slip under the falling threshold. He rolled to his feet in front of them just as the chamber collapsed in on itself, forever sealing away the Wanderer King with his friend.

"Is everyone… alright?" Ignis wobbled slightly, breathing hard as he bent over on his knees but still craning his head back as if to check them over for injuries.

"We're good, Specs." Noct grinned.

"Never better!" Prompto wasn't even that sore – though, okay, that was probably mostly due to the potion and serious adrenaline running through his veins at the moment. New normal or not, he'd definitely be feeling today's spelunking adventure tomorrow, no question. But for now, he was actually feeling mostly fine – cold beyond all reason – but fine. "And, hey, at least we've got a good story for Talcott now."

"Yeah, little guy will be thrilled." Gladio bent over to pull Iggy's arm over his shoulder and started walking. When it looked like Ignis was going to take issue with the manhandling just as soon as he caught his breath Gladio shook his head. "No complaining after you just did all the heavy lifting."

Prompto moved to take Ignis' other arm. After all, the guys had all had his back today, which had made things sorta bearable. Maybe even a little fun. Went without saying he'd have theirs' in return. "Yeah, Iggy, why not take load off?"

Ignis eyed them both, bemused. "Ah, and just how, pray tell, do you intend to carry me up the two ice slides on our way out?"

"Aw man, don't remind me. Wouldn't it be great if we could just teleport back to the cave entrance now that we're done?" Prompto asked wistfully.

Noctis scoffed. "Yeah, sure, might work… if this was all some kind of video game."

"Why you gotta crush my dreams?" Okay, maybe _fun_ was taking things a little too far.


	12. The Dragon and the Archaean

Chapter Summary: Negotiations get heated.

* * *

Passively trailing behind the self-proclaimed "Man of No Consequence" down to the feet of the Archaean took the lion share of Ignis' not inconsiderable self-control.

He'd known Ardyn was not to be trusted. He'd known since the moment the man had first slithered up to them on the docks at Galdin – an unknown air of menace oozing from his every pore. Something more beast than sensible had risen up within Ignis at the mere sight of him, forming his lips into an open snarl.

Outwardly, Ardyn seemed entirely unremarkable. Beyond his odd state of dress and penchant for reciting outdated nursery rhymes there was nothing particularly striking about him. But that had hardly kept Ignis from firmly planting himself between his liege and a potential threat. Suspiciously, the aggressive behavior hadn't done more than garner some manner of amusement from the man; the knowing smirk Ignis had received in return sent an icy tremor up his spine ripe with foreboding.

Noct and the others had given him concerned glances but otherwise overlooked the incident as they'd gone to investigate the boat situation for themselves. After all, it wouldn't due to simply take the word of an unknown vagabond.

The reporter waiting on them at the pier had not been much of an improvement in Ignis' opinion. At least he'd felt no pervasive sense of danger in Dino's presence – a false sentiment really; there wasn't much more capable of harm than the word of the press. But the man seemed willing enough to work with them, even if through extortion. Regardless, they'd needed passage to Altissia and at the time the aspiring jeweler had been their one and only option.

As they'd moved to collect materials for Dino, Ignis had felt a touch foolish for his actions on the docks and allowing himself to react so strongly to the odd stranger. Now he merely wished he had trusted his instincts from the beginning and handled the problem then and there.

If he'd had trouble restraining himself in Galdin, he barely mastered the impulse to turn the man to ashes when Ardyn found them in Lestallum. The man practically shanghaied their entire mission to acquire entry into the Disk of Cauthess – altering details as it suited him, dictating their travel plans and forcing Noct to drive of all things. He absolutely insisted on spending the night at a Coernix station caravan in Cauthess.

It was a shame that they had little choice but to acquiesce, for no sooner than they'd set foot in Lestallum to report their success in the ice caves to Talcott were they again reminded of Noct's standing appointment with the Archaean. While Noct may have downplayed the effects of the reoccurring migraines to the others, it was clear Titan was becoming impatient.

So Ignis kept a careful distance, back pressed flat against the exterior of the caravan where he could easily keep track of everyone's whereabouts. The others were somewhat more relaxed in the plastic chairs spread about under the caravan's striped awning, though not one of them truly let their guard down, not with Ardyn prowling close.

The man prattled on heedless, or perhaps in spite of, their reluctance in humoring him. "Well, you lot aren't much of a talkative bunch, that's for certain. Though I must admit, I never knew the Prince of Lucis kept such _interesting_ company."

"What'd ya mean?" Prompto questioned, voice ratcheting up several decibels in an obvious tell of nerves.

"Oh, no need to be so robotic, my boy. Do loosen up. We're all friends here, after all." Ardyn leaned forward, placing himself well within the bounds of Prompto's personal space, who appeared just as unsettled by the intrusion as Ignis felt.

"That remains to be seen." Ignis could hardly keep the growl out of his voice.

Ardyn turned his Cheshire smile to him instead. "My, such a fiery temper. One would expect a cooler head of a king's advisor, no? Perhaps that is how you obtained your namesake."

It was not the first time Ardyn had made comment on his name, having pronounced it "queerly poetic" shortly after their introductions. Ignis grit his teeth, beyond frustrated with their current company. But before he could settle on a decidedly less cordial course of action, Noct was up, steering him by the elbow back toward the door to the caravan. "Come on, Specs. Let's figure something out for dinner. I'm starving." Silently, Ignis took note of the calming wave of emotion washing over him through the bond – a grounding tactic he usually experienced from the other end of such an exchange.

So disused to the turnabout, he almost didn't catch Noct's muttered, "Relax, creep's not worth it."

Before Ignis could decide whether he wanted to go along with the diversion, Prompto jumped on the shift in topic as if his very life depended on it. "Oh, dude, yes! Maybe we can try some of that curry soup again from last week – the really spicy one with the sweet peppers. What d'ya say, Iggy?"

"Specs, Iggy? My, you do have quite the collection of pet names." The smirk in Ardyn's voice as he watched them retreat was like fuel to the fire raging in Ignis' veins.

"No less than is necessary," Ignis bit out, not really sure what to make of all the strange comments.

The entire night proceeded to be a restless affair, one where Ignis had no intention of pursuing sleep. To allow themselves to become so vulnerable in Ardyn's presence was simply unacceptable.

There was too much they did not understand about the man and his motives. How much of an actual threat he posed was still unknown but the man was clearly abreast of information best kept secret from the Empire that no common citizen should be in possession of. Ignis may not have yet figured out his game, but he was no fool. Whatever Ardyn had in store for them would likely not be to their benefit. So he remained awake and he waited, keeping silent vigil as the mystery of it all wound its way through his thoughts.

Arriving at the imperial blockade outside the Disk the next morning provided more questions than answers as Ardyn was surprisingly able to uphold his word and grant them access to the Meteor instead of attempting to turn them in as Ignis had suspected he would. Even curiouser, he left them at the gates, unsupervised and unpursued. Ignis had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

When the ground split apart beneath the Mystic King's tomb Ignis didn't think – not about the imperials or Ardyn or even the Archaean himself – he simply reacted, diving after Noct and wrapping him in protective claws as he opened his wings wide, ending their plummet to the molten base of the Meteor.

It was fortunate he wore Cid's armor prototype, something the old mechanic had gifted them before they made way for Lestallum. While not nearly so ornate as the armor Noct and Prompto reported having witnessed beneath the tomb of the Wanderer King, it more than made up for it in practicality. Optimized for flight, the aerodynamic, light weight armor provided the sturdiest protection over his chest, shoulders and haunches without interfering with his rang of movement. Even more importantly, there were handholds positioned behind his wings and over an apparatus that functioned like a flat saddle, meant to allow a rider to lie flush against his back. No sooner had he settled Noct then the cause of the rockslide that had gotten them into this mess made itself known. With a sharp jolt of paranoia that came with the knowledge that you were being watched, they both looked past the dramatic formations of the Disk to find the Archaean staring intently from beneath his great burden, one orange eye boring into them as they drew closer.

Ignis could sense the unfamiliar presence looming in the back of his mind – invasive and demanding – feeling for a measure of their strength. "Why do I get the feeling this covenant business won't be a peaceful affair?"

Noct scoffed. "Guess he's never heard of starting off negotiations with a smile."

Their odd stare off with the Astral was cut short by Noct's buzzing ringtone. He fumbled with one hand for a moment, getting the phone to his ear without dropping it. "Yeah?"

"_Thank goodness, you guys okay?"_ Prompto shouted through the receiver.

"Yep, just peachy," Noct answered, and Ignis couldn't see him while keeping his eyes on the Archaean but he could feel Noct leaning his body to one side to look over his shoulder at their companions left behind on the crumbling ledge. "Should we come back for you guys?"

And while the next reply was spoken at a more reasonable volume, Ignis was still able to pick up the rumble of Gladio's deeper tones over the rushing wind. _"Naw, you guys keep going. Cid hasn't gotten around to adding extra seating to Iggy's new getup, and besides, don't think you should keep the big man waiting. We'll find another way around."_

"Okay, you two be careful." Noct ended the call. "So, what'd ya say, Specs? Wanna see what this baby can really do?"

"Ah, I'm certain Cid will be pleased to hear his creation has been Astral tested." Ignis quickly adjusted to the added weight of the armor as he pushed them higher, wings catching on the warm air currents rising from the magma heated earth below. He hoped Gladio and Prompto would find safe passage to navigate. The ground was likely to be dangerously hot.

Meanwhile, the Archaean never took his eye off them and his presence remained a heavy weight on the fringes of their conscience. Closer now under the shadow of the Meteor, Ignis got a better sense for his colossal size and took note of the dark fractal columns, seemingly borne from the Meteor itself, sprouting across his body like an infection – most noticeably piercing through where his right eye should have been.

Noct hissed as Ignis angled them under one of the Disk's high reaching arches. "Noct?"

"I think he's got something to say."

And Ignis felt it too, more distant than Noct perhaps, but when the Archaean's weighted presence turned crushing – pressure building with intent – it was rather difficult to ignore. As Titan began to speak, the words echoed down in their bones.

_**Long awaited is the coming of the Chosen. But to seek the favor of the Six a trial must be met.**_

Then Titan took a swing at them. Up close the Archaean's fist looked like a monolith of rock and clay, almost too massive to be perceived as the hand of a living being. The strike was far too telegraphed for Ignis to be unprepared but even as he dove out of reach the displaced air alone caused a startling fluctuation in the currents of rising heat. In the resultant instance of dissonance between how he wanted to move and how he actually moved, he could only compare the experience to hydroplaning on air. Ignis' wings were strong but even they would crumple beneath these fists.

Titan attempted to take advantage of their disorientation, reaching out again with his one free hand as if to pluck them out of the air.

"Hey, Titan, what's the big idea?" Noct snarled, making use of their tethered state and casting a large fire ball at the offending appendage. It came as no great surprise that the blast didn't accomplish much in way of slowing down the Archaean.

"Hang on!" Ignis tucked his wings in close, rolling to the side as the massive hand broke through the smoke to grab at where they had been mere moments before. It seemed that while the use of fire elemancy was not an effective weapon against one who'd spent centuries standing over lava, the subsequent smoke cover was not without value. Ignis beat his wings, gaining altitude. "Aim toward his eye."

"Right, if he wants a show let's give him one." Noct drew deeper from their reserves, coaxing more hot embers into his palm before unleashing it on the Astral. Titan brought his arm up, blocking the brunt of the spell but unable to prevent a face full of dark smoke.

"Now it's our turn." Noct summoned the Mystic's blade and warped into the veil of fumes, stabbing into the meat of the Archaean's forearm.

Perhaps it was the enchantment of the ancient glaive or perhaps the Astrals were not as impervious as they'd been led to believe, but whatever the case, Noct's warpstrike had an effect. Titan roared – the force of it nearly dropping them from the sky as it reverberated inside their skulls – and swept his arm out in a wide arc, slicing through the smoke and harshly knocking them both aside before neatly demolishing a nearby column of rock.

Peppered with debris, Ignis reeled in the aftermath of the blow, feeling a touch of disconnect. He wondered idly, as the hot breath of the wind rushed past, why the ground was coming up to meet him so quickly.

"Ignis!" The meaning behind the flash of blue at his side didn't properly sink in until he heard Noct's voice, though Ignis registered the spike of panic over the actual words. Noct must have phased through the attack. "Come on, wake up!"

Why was Noct upset? Ignis blinked, having difficulty concentrating while an uncharacteristic bout of nausea mingled with the sensation of building pressure in his head. He tried to ignore it along with the whistle of wind through a large crack in his right shoulder pauldron. Something about staying awake? Why say a thing like that? Ignis was awake, though quite possibly concussed. The idea didn't quite manage to muster what was likely an appropriate amount of concern. Then came a splash of something cool and soothing down his neck. The cloying fog he hadn't even realized had settled over his senses suddenly cleared all at once and – oh, they were falling, and rather quickly at that. He spread his wings again but they were so close to the ground it was near thing. He stumbled when his paws met the hot ground but his wings had slowed them enough to make it more of a clumsy landing over a deadly crash.

"We need to see Cid… about getting you a helmet… or something," Noct gasped, relief coming off him in waves.

"A sensible addition," Ignis allowed as the dizzy spell dissipated.

They hardly had a moment to catch their breath as the crushing force of the Archaean's will returned, knocking the air from their lungs all over again.

_**Come, oh Chosen, show me your true might. **_

Then Titan reared back his foot as if to squash them like bugs. Ignis was starting to doubt the sanity of the Six.

"Are you kidding me?" Noct shouted, panic returning with a vengeance. "We gotta move!"

Ignis couldn't agree more. Coating them in lighting, he allowed the element's inherent speed to propel them out from beneath the foot of the Archaean almost as instantaneously as a thought. It was, however, not enough to escape the powerful tremor that followed. The ground shook violently beneath Ignis' claws as he climbed the rocky terrain, fighting to stay ahead of the Astral's furry. They were sitting ducks down here. "We need to get airborne."

"Right, one distraction coming up!" Noct sent a bolt of lightning back at the Archaean who was already stretching down, hand scrapping along the path of rock in their wake. The magic stuttered the movement, sparking along the gargantuan arm and allowing Ignis room enough to return them to the sky. He wasted no time in bringing them within striking distance. Titan recovered quickly and was making another attempt on their lives with a vicious backhand. But the strike went wide, harmlessly passing beneath them as Ignis threw in his own reprisal into the fray, bringing ice to bear against the Archaean's exposed side.

The chilled blast seemed the most effective yet, eliciting another pained roar from Titan and another headache for themselves. But before they could make good use of the information Noct's phone alerted them of another call. "Yeah, now's not a good time," Noct's answered distractedly as Ignis took them higher, granting them some breathing room.

"_Well… about to… even worse._" Through the bursts of static Ignis could barely pick out Gladio's words. "_Imperials here –_"

Noct sucked in a frustrated breath. "Got cut off but it sounds like we're about to have imperial company."

In but a few moments the warning proved true. Imperial airships descended on the Disk and as Ignis watched them surround the Archaean he wondered how they could have ever believed this whole venture to be anything other than a trap. "Ardyn's doing no doubt."

The Empire's forces mobilized quickly, armed with strange weapons tipped in some sort of energy field. Ignis felt something off about them. The devices seemingly operated in fashion comparable to missile launchers that speared into Titan's flesh, generating red plumes of smoke on impact and tethering the Astral to the soldiers. Abruptly, Ignis didn't know which course of action would be wiser: defending Titan from the imperials or taking advantage of the distraction to complete whatever sort of insane trail the Astral was so insistent upon.

He felt the same glimmer of uncertainty work its way through Noct's thoughts as well. "What are they doing?"

"Trying to immobilize him, it appears," Ignis answered, watching in interest as the men continued to form up on Titan.

"They can do that?" Noct questioned, obviously skeptic. No small wonder, considering the fight Titan had given them thus far.

"Let us not forget the fate of the Glacian. The Empire has slain Astrals before." Shiva's corpse was reportedly still lain to rest in the very Rift where they'd confronted her, but Ignis had never known how the feat was accomplished. It looked as though he might be finding out in the very near future.

"Guess you're right." Noct sounded pensive, and now that Titan's constant weight on their conscious had finally eased somewhat with the intrusion of the Empire, he could sense a searching presence in its place. "You doing okay?"

And Ignis knew exactly what he meant. Up till now they'd kept his true existence limited to exaggerated legend and unproven rumor, but it was too late to hide now. The best they could hope for was make certain the Empire knew not to count them as targets easy for the taking. Perhaps if Gladio and Prompto stayed away for a little longer they might not even connect who amongst them was the dragon.

He was broken out of his thoughts on the matter by the harsh return of Titan's attention, pressing down on their minds like a vice. Grown weary of the Empire's interference and their own indecision, the Archaean was taking the choice of engagement out of their hands. He twisted beneath the Meteor, sending many of the tethered soldiers flying, before he swung his fist at them again.

The blow didn't connect. Ignis flitted out of reach, weaving around and over the extended limb. "Looks like we've no choice but to finish this."

"Fine, then let's do it." Noct summoned his armiger, bringing forth the four incorporeal swords they'd collected from the tombs of the Lucii. He hovered under their power, falling away from the saddle before warping forward in a blink. The glaives spun in a deadly halo and bit into Titan's arm as Ignis circled, blasting ice at Titan's back. The Astral wailed under the assault, nearly toppling over onto a shelf of rock level with his waist and startling many imperials who had taken up position there.

Noct didn't let up, warping down to pin the Archaean under the borrowed strength of the Lucii. Normally the strain of such magic would prevent Noct from harnessing the glaives of the ancient kings for an extended period, but with Ignis close by the drain was more manageable though still dangerous after a time. Ignis resolved to end the fight before they could reach that point, manipulating the air around him to become colder and envelope Titan and the nearby imperials in a numbing chill that combated the warmth wafting up from below.

A layer of steam fell over the core of the Disk that along with slowing Titan's movements had the added benefit of concealing them from the audience of airships hovering at what was likely deemed a safe distance from the Astral. If Ignis hurried he could use that to his advantage. In the clouded chaos, he was able to spot Glaido and Prompto methodically taking out imperial spearmen, cleaving a path to the edge where Titan's hand pressed into the rock as the Astral tried to lever himself back up to his feet.

Now was the time to strike. Ignis pulled his wings in tight to his sides, plunging down through the thickening mist like a loosed arrow with jaws tipped in the bitter glow of a mounting storm. The air shrieked as he fell, pressing fast against the seams of Cid's armor and ripping through the gash left by Titan's wrath. Ignis held steady, trusting Cid's work to hold together and building the magic at his teeth. He and Noct would not have the energy for many more large scale elemancy attacks after this. A breath away from impact with the rocky surface below, he twisted out of his nosedive and blanketed the surrounding imperials in a curtain of frost that spanned wide, freezing the Archaean's hand to the cliff's edge.

Gladio and Prompto must have cottoned on to his strategy. As he passed over their heads the two of them added the remaining ice flasks from the armiger into the frozen mess, catching several imperial stragglers who'd escaped on the fringes of the initial blast. Ignis smiled sharply. Their teamwork was improving.

He could feel Noct drawing on the last of the Lucii's power. In the next moment Noct appeared over the frost prison with the light of the kings' glaives channeled into a single long blade he used to shatter the ice along with those ensnared within. They all watched on as Titan, now freed, pushed himself away from the ledge and cradled his mangled hand to his chest.

Ignis winced as pain echoed through the connection the Archaean had forcibly instilled in Noct and himself. However unpleasant, it was a clear sign they had managed to weaken Titan. The chance for victory was theirs.

Another flash of blue heralded Noct's return to his side. His charge clutched at the handholds of the armor at his back to remain airborne, the enchantment from the royal armiger spent. "Hey, Iggy, think you can get us in close one more time?"

"You've something in mind?" Ignis brought them up quickly, preparing to strike at Titan form greater heights before he recovered.

The mischief in Noct's voice was impossible to miss. "Might have an idea."

A risky one, Ignis thought, reading Noct's intent as they climbed. They would need to dig deep into the remains of their reserves if they were to make this work.

It didn't take Titan long to notice them. The air at this elevation was still hot with the breath of the Disk and made no effort to conceal them, roaring in tandem with their rapid descent. The Archaean answered their challenge, his own roar of quaking earth drowning out the screaming wind and angrily pressing down upon their conscience, as if to impress the blasphemy of their boldness. He drew back his arm, preparing to extinguish the impudent fire from their hearts.

But they stayed the course. And Ignis heard as their magic sung in sync, bright and sharp with the crystal's might. In this state they were hardly entities separate. Two sides of the same coin, they experienced the same pain – the same harsh drag of wind across feathers gone stiff with adrenaline – the same sweat damp hair brushing wildly over dry eyes locked onto a curled fist that grew and grew. Woven as one, they held their position as Archaean's fist came down, phasing through them harmlessly, their form shimmering in crystalline blue for but an instant. On the other side Titan was defenseless. The chilled tempest they had been silently nurturing surged forth and unleashed its fury.

Ice latched onto Titan, violent and ravenous, clawing its way up his chest and through his ribs, expanding outward in a destructive path that spiraled up the side of the Astral's face.

"It's over!" Noct commanded, voice weighted by the depths of the crystal's authority, warping forward to strike at the ice embedded deep into to the Archaean and felling the Astral to his knees.

Ignis followed, diving after his king and catching him before landing beside Gladio and Prompto in the waning mist. He returned to his human form, supporting Noct as he regained his feet before the collapsing Archaean.

"You two alright?" Gladio gave Ignis' shoulder a rough shake, likely reassuring himself as much as offering his support.

"I didn't know you guys could even do that." Prompto breathed, glancing between them and the Astral… who had started to glow.

"It's not something that is easy," Ignis answered distractedly when it looked like Noct would not regain his breath anytime soon, though he was more concerned by the golden motes of light that had begun to swirl around them. The spinning lights grew in intensity before Ignis' senses were assaulted by a vision. Tinged in a bright fog, he saw Lady Lunafreya from the Archaean's eyes. She kneeled far below, respectful yet regal – every inch the oracle playing her part, beseeching aide of the Astrals on high.

"_I ask only that you lend the True King your strength so that when the time of prophecy is upon us he may vanquish over the forces of darkness as is ordained."_

The vision ended as abruptly as it had come and as Ignis blinked back into reality he noticed Noct clutching at his head again, but the pain he felt was not as harsh as before.

"That was Luna, you spoke with her?" Noct directed up at Titan who loomed over them. "So that was why..."

_**It is done. Worthy is the Chosen and mighty is the devotion of the Spark rekindled by the Draconian. Titan shall stand with you on the path set forth by providence. **_

The golden light then pierced the Astral's skin, shining from within. The glare blinded them, blowing the surrounding Imperial airships out of the sky, as the Archaean vanished and a covenant was forged. Instantaneously, Ignis felt power expanding from within, like reinforced steel was slated into his bones. He felt stronger, sturdier – but also exhausted. The battle had taken a hefty toll and Ignis felt its drain mirrored in Noct as well. As was their luck, this was naturally the moment the ground decided to erupt.

Titan was gone, released from his burden, but the Meteor remained and its energy was reacting to direct contact with the magma below the Disk. Ignis was already digging for the energy to return to his dragon form and fly them to safety when an unscathed airship approached them. "The Empire, now?"

Despite their weary state, they all tensed for another fight. But when the ship drew close none where prepared for the loading ramp to lower with Ardyn waiting within to extend an unexpected offer. "Fancy meeting you here! It occurs to me that I never properly introduced myself. Izunia, Ardyn Izunia."

Ignis made the connection almost immediately. Suddenly many things were making sense. "Imperial Chancellor Izunia?"

"At your service. And more importantly, to your aide. It's such a same about your dragon friend; he appears to have flown off in the ruckus and left you lot in quite the predicament," Ardyn called down in obvious amusement. "I can guarantee your safe passage. Though, you're always welcome to take your chances down there. Buried among the ruble, is it?"

Ignis didn't have to look to know Noct was dropping where he stood. They were both spent from the Archaean's trial. The strength he'd felt building moments before had all but deserted them now and neither Gladio nor Prompto had the means to get them to safety.

The others flinched as molten lava exploded from the unstable ground mere feet away – the heat must of been unbearable for humans down here.

"Ignis?" Noct's meaning was clear: could he fly them out of this? The answer he wanted to give rested heavy on his tongue even as his vision hazed with either exhaustion or the mounting temperature. Ignis didn't dare remove his eyes from the chancellor who stared back challengingly, smile sharp like a predator who'd already cornered its prey. He'd known, Ignis began to realize. This whole charade had merely been a gamble to obtain proof. And yet, the man was playing ignorant, speaking as though he didn't know one of them to be the dragon. But why continue the charade?

Whatever the case, Ignis was still reluctant to prove his identity to the man's face. More than even that, it was foolish to attempt to fly in their current state in such a dangerous environment, and if the Empire choose to attack them now… A

The earth beneath them gave one more warning heave. "Dying here is not an option," Ignis answered finally, the words tasting like poison as he uttered them. "We have no choice, Noct."

"I know." Noctis sounded just as resigned.

"Splendid," Ardyn crooned. "Right this way, gentlemen. And do watch your step, it'd be such a shame if any of you were to wind up on hot footing."

And with that, they placed themselves at the mercy of whatever sort of inane plot the chancellor had instore. It was only temporary, Ignis reminded himself as they shuffled up the loading ramp of the enemy vessel – a provisional cooperation between themselves and those responsible for the very demise of Insomnia. After this Ardyn and his forces would be free game and he had no intention of holding back.

* * *

Welp, Ignis does not like Ardyn too much. Can't say I blame him. XD  
Thanks to everyone for reading and checking up on this story. I had hoped to update before the end of the holidays but once again the chapter got away from me and just kept going and going. Also had some help betaing this round, so thanks to ScribeOfRhapsody for the extra pair of eyes. If you haven't checked out her many amazing FFXV stories yet you really should!


	13. The Draong and the Chocobo

Chapter Summary: I want to ride my chocobo all day!

* * *

Chocobos, Ignis decided, were an odd sort of creature. Intelligent and friendly, the large flightless birds were very social animals with individual personalities all their own. He watched in a distracted sort of interest as the birds displayed a variety of temperaments in taking to their inexperienced riders, all while making quick work of the mash-filled Duscaen terrain.

They really hadn't had much opportunity to make use of their rental agreement with the Chocobo Post since Deadeye's demise, but with the Regalia missing they were certainly getting well acquainted with the birds now.

"Kweh!"

"Apologies." Ignis resumed scratching the side of Cloud's elongated neck, making the chocobo preen with contentment as she hurried along after the others. He couldn't help the small smile that such behavior brought out of him.

Ignis admitted his introduction to the birds of burden had not gone as well as hoped. The illusion of his human appearance never worked quite so successfully on the perceptions of animals and chocobos were no exception – most proving too skittish to allow him close. The grey feathered female beneath him was the only bird who hadn't shied away from his attentions. In fact, she was quite comfortable in his presence so long as he continued to provide said attention. Prone to warble in protest or even aim a light peck at his shoulder should he neglect to upkeep a steady stream of regard, Cloud was hardly bothered whether he was a dragon, human or toad.

"She's a sweet thing," Wiz, the owner of the Chocobo Post, had said, claiming the bird to be an exemplary match for even the most apprehensive of riders. Ignis suspected that the lady chocobo was simply a bit of an attention hoarder and saw the other chocobos avoiding him as the perfect opportunity to have someone all to herself.

In a few quick strides she pulled up alongside Mello, the most relaxed of the birds. Closer to the traditional yellow coloring, if a bit more orange, Prompto's mount did not startle at the approach as the other birds might. Though a constant outpouring of cheerful reassurances from Prompto no doubt helped.

Ignis suspicioned the blond had not so much as missed the Regalia given how taken he was with the easy going chocobo. Speaking of which, he glanced over Prompto's head to where Noct was beginning to lag behind on Ace. The poor bird seemed to have the lowest stamina of the bunch. "Were you able to get a hold of Cindy?"

"No," Noct huffed as he tried to make his white chocobo keep pace. "Reception's terrible out of here."

"Might as well wait till we report back to Wiz then," Gladio called from up ahead where he was dealing with the opposite problem. Temperamental and impatient, Zora didn't seem too interested in traveling in the close knot of her flock mates regardless of Gladio's instruction. He forcefully pulled back on the reins, making his red chocobo squawk indignantly.

Prompto winced in sympathy for the bird. "Easy there, big guy."

"Darn bird won't slow down," Gladio grumbled in defense. "Still say we oughta just hoof it. We could be saving the gil."

"Dude, don't even joke." Prompto leaned forward to cover Mello's ears, as if the bird were a small child in the presence of vulgar conversation. "Let me have this."

"The birds do negate much of the expense by shaving down our travel time," Ignis reminded, ignoring Prompto's triumphant cheer at the support. "Might I suggest a gentler approach?"

"Yeah, yeah." Gladio scowled, hanging on tightly as Zora began picking up speed again.

"Either way, gonna have to figure it out 'til we hear back from Cindy," Noct spoke up, bringing them back to the more troublesome matters at hand.

They had first paid visit to the Chocobo Post hoping to hold out until receiving news of the Regalia. The chancellor had been positively insufferable during their alleged "rescue", remaining far too close for comfort and refusing to allow them to turn back for their vehicle. Ignis still felt his blood boil at the mere thought of the man and his shameless deceptions. Due to his interference the Regalia was very likely in the hands of the Empire now.

With not much choice they'd turned to taking up hunts and errands from Wiz to bolster their ever diminishing funds as they waited on word from Hammerhead. If anyone stood a chance of catching word of the Regalia's whereabouts it was Cindy, though if their suspicions about the Empire's involvement were correct then there was likely very little she could do.

Still, Ignis hoped they'd hear good news soon. They'd already cleared the Post of most of the bounties within their rank and Wiz had resorted to asking them to checkup on a missing wild chocobo. Apparently the untamed bird had not been seen in some time.

"This is it, last place she was spotted was somewhere around here," Noct pointed out as they approached a familiar outcropping of rock.

"Man," Prompto whined. "Not this place again."

Ignis hadn't imagined they'd be revisiting the Nebulawood so soon himself. "It has been some time since we evicted the last apex predator from the area. Perhaps another has moved in."

"Better to check it out anyway," Gladio reasoned as he dismounted. None of their chocobos seemed too keen of setting foot in the behemoth's old stomping grounds.

Cloud butted her head against Ignis' back as he tried to step away, warbling piteously. He offered her one last parting rub before he headed in after the others.

The Nebulawood looked much the same as how they'd left it, overturned trees and fallen branches all still in the same resting places, and yet the smells had changed.

"What'd ya think, Specs? You picking up anything?" Noct asked as they took in the unchanged scenery.

"Hard to say. It appears the area has received some foot traffic since our last visit." Ignis, though his sense of smell was certainly more sensitive than a human's or even what was considered average for most creatures, was not what he'd classify as an expert tracker. However, that was not to say he'd never relied on his nose before.

Once upon a time Noct's favored game to play had been hide-and-seek – after he'd realized that remaining hidden long enough could result in an extended play time. But such was never the case when Ignis was on his trail. Noct's scent was incredibly familiar and easy to pick out. Ignis had similarly learned Gladio's and later Prompto's scents, which became more natural and less tainted by expensive hygiene products the longer they traveled.

He could detect them easily now as he sifted through the mingled scents of various other recent visitors to the wood, though determining if their wayward chocobo was among them was another matter. "We should keep searching to be sure."

Moving further in brought them upon a modest pack of sabertusks. The predators appeared to have been in the midst of stalking something and were less than pleased at the interruption. The pack turned on them at once, flashing sharp fangs in an aggressive display.

The posturing didn't last long. One of the sabertusks lunged from the tall grasses, trying to pin Noct to the ground where his jugular and other prime targets would be within convenient reach. The strategy was a familiar one and Noct easily phased through the attack, spinning with a polearm in hand to bring down on the animal's unguarded flank.

The rest of the pack was similarly cleared out with little fuss. After the Archaean these common beasts hardly proved a challenge, but it was here that Ignis caught a scent resembling that of the birds they'd rented from the Post. "I believe our missing chocobo is close. Or was, at the very least." That much noise would have undoubtedly startled the poor thing.

Prompto glanced nervously around the shadowed forest. "Do you think she was running from those sabertusks?"

"It's a likely possibility," Ignis answered honestly. If he could smell the bird then presumably so could the sabertusks.

"Guess we better make sure she's okay then." Noct dismissed his weapon as they picked up the trail, continuing on from where the sabertusks left off. It didn't take long to catch a glimpse of sunny tail feathers disappearing into the overgrowth ahead.

"Oh, oh! I see her." Prompto quickly pulled his camera from the armiger, his expression one of pure, determined glee.

"How about trying to reign it in before you scare her off?" Gladiolus chided.

Ignis hummed in agreement. "We may have found our chocobo but wrangling a close up might be another matter."

"Don't worry guys, I got this," Prompto reassured in a quieter tone.

They soon found their target anxiously pacing about the next clearing. The wild chocobo appeared in good health from what Ignis was able to parse from the distance. Her movements were quick and unhindered by injury at the very least. Obtaining photographic evidence of that very sentiment, however, proved easier said than done.

A dry stick snapped under Prompto's boot as he crept forward to get a better shot, causing the chocobo to swivel her head in their direction. She warbled in alarm.

"Whoa. Easy, girl. We're not going to hurt you," Prompto tried, making his voice low and soothing.

But the chocobo was having none of it. She dashed off toward the far end of the clearing, where she continued pacing the perimeter.

Ignis considered the nervous bird. "It appears we may be in need of a plan of attack."

"Divide and conquer?" Noct suggested.

Gladio hummed agreeably. "Good a plan as any."

"Oh yeah, let's do this!" Prompto pumped his fist in the air, the chocobo's less than warm reception not having dampened his spirits in the least.

It was Noct who approached the chocobo first, trying to corral her toward Prompto and the camera. But as if wise to the ploy, she turned tail in the opposite direction instead. Luckily, Gladio was already in position. He stepped into the bird's path, shouting and waving his arms in an attempt to startle her into turning back.

The tactic worked for the most part. The chocobo nearly about faced, but instead of turning toward Prompto's hiding place she made a more desperate gamble for the exit to the clearing… which just so happened to be in the corner Ignis has chosen to block off.

When she got close the bird balked, immediately sensing something off about him. She pulled up short, puffing out her feathers as if to make herself appear larger and snapping her sharp beak, getting far too close to his face for comfort. Unlike Cloud's attention-seeking ploys, these were moves to intimidate and ward off a dangerous predator. Ignis supposed he really couldn't blame her for thinking of him as such. "Ah, I should have anticipated this. Perhaps I should leave."

"Don't. She's holding still." Noct stopped him from pulling back from the upset chocobo. "Prompto!"

"I'm on it!"

The flash turned out to be the last straw for the poor chocobo's nerves. She bolted, running full tilt in what was likely her perceived surest route to safety – which just so happened to be straight for their resident photographer. With a concerning lack of regard for the several hundred pounds of chocobo barreling down on his person, Prompto snapped several more photos in quick succession before just managing to roll out of the frantic chocobo's path.

"Perfect! Got the shot," Prompto cheered as if he hadn't nearly been run over.

Noct extended a hand to help his friend to his feet. "You sure you got a proper shot?"

Prompto huffed in faux offense. "Dude. it's me."

"Take any for yourself?" Gladio further prodded.

"_Dude_. It's me."

Ignis was about to comment when he heard a distant roll of thunder. Glancing up, he noticed several dark clouds forming ominously on the horizon. "We'd best hurry back, a storm looks to be on its way."

Noct paused, also noticing the sky's rapidly deteriorating state. "Weird. It was sunny a minute ago. Race back?"

"Dude, you are so on," Prompto cheered as he and Noct proceeded to shove each other toward the exit.

It was weird, Ignis thought as he and Gladio took in after them. The morning's forecast hadn't called for rain.

* * *

After the last two action heavy chapters I just had to take this chance to acquaint the bros with some chocobos before the stormy weather hits, because chocobos! Happy birthday, Iggy! :D


	14. The Dragon and the Runes of Ramuh

Chapter Summary: The boys encounter a small problem.

* * *

"Really, another cave?"

Gladio couldn't say he shared Prompto's reservations as they ducked under the lip of Fociaugh Hollow's entrance. "At least gets us out of the rain." Rain that had been going nonstop for days. Apparently all thanks to some cosmic agenda to annoy and otherwise inconvenience Noct into showing up at the doorstep of each and every deity waiting in line to become best buds with the Chosen King. Gladio wondered if Ramuh's storm was affecting the cell reception – might explain why Iris had been dodging his calls lately.

Prompto groaned, dragging the noise out far longer than necessary. "Yeah, and _now_ we're drifting into the deep end – most likely to deal with whatever kind of horrible, bloodthirsty monster is waiting for us at the bottom."

Gladio shook his head in amusement. "Don't you think that's maybe a bit dramatic?"

Prompto scoffed, like Gladio was being the unreasonable one. "Dude, dungeons like this always have a boss. I bet it's something really nasty too, like a swarm of giant bugs or maybe it's slimy and gross with long sticky claws."

"Might not be so bad," Noct consoled. "Could just be the regular brand of horrible, bloodthirsty monsters instead."

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better – ah!" They all ducked down as a colony of bats startled and hightailed it out of the cave. Prompto gulped nervously as soon as the flying rodents disappeared from sight. "Okay, it's official. I got a bad feeling about this place."

Ignis offered Prompto a hand to his feet. "As if danger lurks around every corner."

Prompto accepted the hand and hoped up off the ground. "Avoid all corners. Got it."

Avoiding corners or no, they still had a runestone to find. Gladio kept an eye out as they explored deeper into the cavern, hoping to spot some clue to where it might be hiding. There was likely a lot more cave left to cover but the Storm Bringer had gone easy on them with the last two runestones, so Gladio was still feeling optimistic that Ramuh was maybe not about to try to electrocute them all to death.

What he did find tucked away in one of the dark corners of the next room of the cave was slightly more unexpected. "Hey, Noct. Check this out."

Noct narrowed his eyes as he joined him, sizing up the fossilized tooth laying haphazardly on the cave floor. "Wonder how this got in here."

"Probably been here a while," Gladio offered as Ignis and Prompto wandered over out of curiosity.

Prompto bent forward and squinted at the tooth that was easily longer than his entire hand. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup, definitely dragon," Noct confirmed.

"Whoa." Prompto leaned back on his heels, considering. "But what would a dragon have been doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's not a tomb here or anything… right?"

"Doubtful," Ignis replied. "There is, however, evidence to suggest dragons weren't always tied to the Line of Lucis. Remains have been dated as far back as the Solheim era after all. Perhaps this one had simply been a protector of this place."

"Huh, really?" Prompto glanced about the empty room, as if something might be hidden in the darkness just outside the reach of their torch lights. "So we could like be in an ancient dragon lair right now?"

Noct nudged his friend's shoulder teasingly. "Who knows, maybe he's still here."

"Haunting this very cave," Gladio agreed, just to get a reaction out of Prompto. The kid didn't disappoint.

A shiver ran down Prompto's spine as he jumped up and backed away from the tooth. "Yeah, I'm gonna hope _not_."

Ignis stood as well. "I suppose we won't know unless we look."

But as they navigated the cave there wasn't much else to see in the way of signs left behind by ancient ghost dragons and beyond a tight squeeze or two with the resident imps it's mostly easy going. Gladio had even started to think to himself how Ramuh was maybe shaping up to be his favorite of the Six so far. No cave-ins or rockslides. No boiling lava. Heck, even the daemons so far had been relatively sparse. Of course, nothing good ever lasted forever.

"Hey, guys..." Prompto trailed off from behind, "what was that noise?"

"Noise?" Gladio glanced back to where Prompto stood near a dark opening in the cave wall looking like he'd just seen that ghost they'd teased him about. Then there was a voice, muddled and intangible like a whisper on the wind.

"_My baby."_

Ignis snapped his head around. "Prompto, watch out!"

"Whoooaaaahhhhh!"

Something in the darkness moved, lashing out like lightning right at Prompto. Luckily Ignis was faster. The dragon shoved Prompto down just as something long and sinewy slashed through the air above their heads before withdrawing back into the shadows.

Gladio rushed over to get them both back on their feet. "You guys okay?"

"No, I am _not_ okay! I told you there'd be a boss," Prompto all but wailed as he let Gladio haul him up off the cave floor. "Ugh, and why'd it have to be a snake?"

"A snake, huh?" Gladio hadn't been able to make out much of the moving shadow and glancing through the pitch black hole in the wall didn't really clear much up except that there was a whole lot more cave to go through.

"A naga, unless I'm very much mistaken." Ignis, of course, had no problems identifying a daemon in the dark. "We should exercise caution."

"Oh, great." Prompto slumped in place. "Can we go now? Please, please tell me we can leave?

"We're not finished yet," Noct reminded, offering Prompto an apologetic shrug as he led them further in. The next segment of cave opened up into a maze of pathways crowded between hundreds of stalagmites reaching up for the cavern ceiling and filled with daemons of a tougher crowd. A range of nasties came out to play that spanned from the little imps and thunder bombs that had been harassing them almost since the cave's entrance to the heavier hitting goblins and mindflayers.

Prompto stayed on edge the whole while, practically jumping out of his skin at every sudden noise and shifting shadow. He looked about ready to snap by the time they cleared the large chamber. "She's here – I just know it. Show yourself already!"

"Cool it!" Gladio clamped his hand over the kid's shoulder, steering him forward. "Nobody's getting snatched up, alright?"

"Yeah, pretty sure we can handle one snake," Noct agreed with easy confidence. "Don't worry so much."

"Just don't lower your guard," Ignis warned, watching the shadows just as closely but with less panic and more predator intensity. He stayed close to Noct and Prompto as they stalked ahead while Gladio covered their six.

Despite keeping on their toes they didn't find a single sign of the snake daemon – at least not till they were moving toward the next area of the cave. Without warning the naga sprung at them from the shadows above, the whole of its body cloaked in darkness like a second skin that dissolved before their eyes.

"See? I told you! There she is! That's her!" Prompto shouted in the commotion, shoving Noct forward between himself and the daemon unfurling around them. "Do something, Noct!"

"Don't ask me – do it yourself," Noct complained, as the naga lowered her eerily human-like head.

"_My baby… Where…"_ The words were halting and hissed out awkwardly between sharp fangs, but startlingly coherent for a daemon.

"Uh, sorry, don't know where any babies are," Noct tried, glancing between the daemon and the rest of them as if any of them had any freaking clue how the thing was actually talking to them. "Can't help you…"

"_Oh, you can… by becoming mine!"_ The naga leaned in and opened its mouth wide, releasing a stream of teal tinted gas.

Still clutching to the back of Noct's shirt, Prompto gagged. "Ugh, whatever that is, it's disgusting."

Ignis gasped. "No, don't breathe it in! It's some sort of magic!"

Gladio clamped his mouth shut at the warning, no need for more of them getting affected by whatever that gunk did than necessary. Just as he was about to work his way forward and drag the others out of the tainted air the daemon struck, snapping out with its jaws like a viper. Gladio's shield was likely all that saved him from getting his own dose of poison as he was pushed back across the slick cave floor with the sudden strike. The metal of his shield vibrated all the way up his arm as he bashed it against the snake's thick skull. The naga recoiled, raising its head up out of his range before whipping its long tail around in an attempt to flatten him. Gladio rolled to the side as the heavy mass of the snake's body smacked down at his side and switched to his greatsword to slash at the retreating tail.

He needed to keep this thing busy until he was sure the others were okay after whatever that gas cloud had done. If he listened he could make out the scrape of Lucian steel against the daemon's scaly hide, but it was tougher than it should have been to tell if the others were still where he'd left them and how many were actually fighting. The cave had gotten darker, he noticed. Almost as if the lamps on his friends were cutting out one by one. Crap. "Guys, sound off!"

"Gladio!"

That was Ignis, Gladio thought just before a flare of fire elemancy lit up the cave as it collided with the naga's other side. Gladio had to blink away spots from the sudden brightness. The daemon screeched and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, skulking back to the shadows of the cave as the magic's light flickered out. After that, nothing.

"Guys!" Gladio swung his lamp about, checking for any sign of the others. Seriously, where were they? "Somebody say something!"

All he could hear was the naga hissing in anger, already gearing up for round two, and he didn't have a clue where any of his friends were. So much for protecting the Chosen King.

Sudden movement on the cave floor startled him into looking down. A frog had jumped up onto a rock by his boot, croaking in discontent at Gladio for nearly being stepped on. Wait, a frog…

Gladio shined his lamp about where his friends should have been and sure enough there was another frog, hoping around in a frantic circle. He'd heard of daemons being able to cast curses that changed people but he had always assumed they were a pretty rare occurrence. Probably just their luck they happened to run into one such rare case anyway. Of course, the frogs could have just been a coincidence but Gladio wasn't willing to chance it.

He grabbed up the two frogs and scanned the area for the third. The naga was already making its way out of the shadows, prowling closer and ready for some payback no doubt.

"Come on, who am I missing?"

It didn't make sense. There were no bodies laying unconscious on the ground and Noct and the others had to be somewhere. The only alternative was that the daemon's magic must have done something to them. So how come he could only find two frogs?

Gladio gave the cave one final sweep before he dropped the frogs off behind a semi defensible pile of rocks as far from the daemon as they could get without leaving the area and took up a protective stance in front of them, hoping the frogs at least had enough sense to stay put.

As the naga closed in, Gladio caught a quick flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He blinked as something small swooped in and smacked into the side of the daemon's head. Another bat, maybe? Whatever it was the naga's head wiped to the side with the impact and Gladio had a prime opening to rush the daemon. He swung his sword upwards, cutting diagonally into the naga's less protected underbelly. The blow did serious damage and the naga reeled, curling in on itself and crying out in that creepy of voice that sounded a garbled mix between a daemon's snarl and a human scream. It tried to knock Gladio back with its tail again, forcing him on the defensive. Even injured the naga was still pretty fast and had plenty of weight to throw around.

Gladio was distracted from figuring out how to get back in close by a burst of magic at his back. Feeling a sense of cool dread creeping up his spine, he spun around to check on where he'd left the frogs and nearly sagged in relief when he found Noct and Prompto stumbling away from the cave wall, looking a little green but no worse for wear.

"Oh man," Prompto moaned. "I thought I was gonna croak. What _hop_'pened?"

"Ugh, just stop." Noct scrunched up his face like he's just had to swallow a serving of vegetables rather than Prompto's horrible puns before glancing around the cave. "Hey, where's Specs?"

Gladio was just thinking how he'd like to know the answer to that questions himself. "Hopefully he's being a smart frog and staying out of sight until we deal with momma sunshine over here."

"Right." Noct didn't look too convinced of the idea but came forward to back Gladio up all the same. "Then let's get this over with fast. Prompto!"

"Right, let me brighten your day!" Prompot summoned one of his starshell flares and fired it toward the cave ceiling. Gladio winced against the light that was more searingly bright than Iggy's earlier fire spell had been, but at least it was doing its job.

The naga writhed under the flare's light and they took full advantage, avoiding the wild swings of the tail and getting at the daemon's vulnerable points. It didn't take long for the three of them to finish it off and when they did it was like the naga burst, drenching the cave floor in liquid shadows that sizzled in the glow of their lamps and the lingering effects of the flare. Its final words seemed to reverberate off the cavern walls before flickering out like a dying flame.

"_Bring back… my baby."_

Prompto muttered something about not going near it but Gladio was too preoccupied by Ignis' continued absence to really pay attention. "Do you guys see anything?"

"No, but Iggy's still close by. I know it." Noct frowned as his focus turned inward. "I don't get it. Where is he?"

"Uh, shouldn't he be back to normal by now?" Prompto brought up, which was a good point. Even though Ignis had probably been the last to turn he really should have been his old self by now… unless something else had happened to him.

Gladio didn't get to finish that line of thought because at that moment a small cloud of glittering frost floated down in front of his face. He blinked past the miniature ice cycles forming on his eyelashes, trying to decide if he had finally lost his marbles, when a shrill chirp sounded off from over his head.

He followed the noise with his eyes and stared. There clinging upside down to one of the cave's low hanging stalactites was Ignis in his dragon form, the light burnished color of his feathers blending in nearly seamlessly against the pale limestone. He was also perfectly scaled down to no bigger than Gladio's palm and chirping like an upset baby bird.

"Guys, I found our dragon." Immediately Gladio had both Noct and Prompto crowding him on either side to get a look for themselves.

Prompto blinked up at the miniaturized dragon in wonder. "Whoa, dude! I know you said Ignis used to be tiny but I had no idea."

"Not like this." Noct turned his head sideways, considering. "You think that daemon used some kind of shrinking spell on him?"

"The thing was talking so I guess anything's possible. But I didn't catch it doing anything fishy after that first toad curse." Though that still didn't explain why Ignis was still being affected Gladio thought to himself as he reached up to retrieve their sulking dragon from his perch.

Noct nodded. "I know some toxins affect dragons differently. Maybe that's what's going on."

Gladio didn't comment on that particular theory because Ignis took one sniff of his outstretched hand before sinking teeth like miniature knives into his fingers.

"Hey!" Gladio snatched his hand back, scowling at the small rivulet of blood dripping down from his abused fingers. Why was it that anytime he ended up on the wrong side of Ignis there's inevitably blood shed – mostly his?

Prompto made a choked off noise that was an unsubtle mix between shock and glee. "Did he just –"

Noct managed to school his expression a bit better, but his amusement was still easy to pick up on. "Must be because you were holding me and Prompto as frogs. You know how he hates that smell."

Prompto snorted. "Still, who knew Iggy was such a snap dragon."

Gladio was less than amused. "Then why don't one of you two give it a try?"

"Well for one, if he can smell frog on you he'll definitely smell it on us. And I'm pretty sure he's up too high for either of us to reach," Prompto pointed out easily, probably the most pleased he'd ever been about being too short for something.

Gladio glanced up at Ignis who had looped his tail around the hanging limestone and snarled down at him like an enraged squeaky toy from hell, complete with little trails of smoke rising up from the slits of his nostrils. "How long is this supposed to last anyway?"

Noct shrugged. "Don't know. Shouldn't be too long though, at least, I don't think it should…"

Yeah, that was reassuring. Gladio sighed, willing the Astrals to give him strength. If he was gonna do this with all his fingers intact he was gonna need Ignis to cooperate. Maybe he had gone about this all wrong. Deciding on a different approach, Gladio cupped his hands under the dragon. "Look, I get it, Iggy. You're not coming down unless you want to. But we can't stay here, it's not safe. So I'm just gonna hold my hands out right here and you can jump down when you're ready. How's that?"

Seemingly appeased at being presented with an option involving less manhandling, Ignis didn't make them wait long. But instead of dropping down into Gladio's waiting hands as expected he glided down on tiny wings to find a new perch on Gladio's shoulder.

Gladio watched out of the corner of his eye as the shrunken dragon latched onto the leather of his jacket and made himself comfortable. "Guess, that settles that."

Noct hovered close, giving Ignis a quick once over, but wisely refraining from trying to touch him. "You think he'll be alright?"

"No sense in stressing about it now," Gladio decided. They could always try out some remedies if the status effect didn't wear off naturally. "You just worry about sealing that covenant. I'll keep an eye on our pocket dragon."

For the third time since they'd set foot in this place Gladio had to blink the spots out of his vision as a bright flash temporarily blinded him. He scowled over at the culprit.

Prompto hesitantly lowered his camera. "What, I'm preserving the moment."

"How about a little warning next time?" Gladio huffed, and Iggy seemed to agree with him if the shrill chirping noise he made was any indication. Poor guy was scrubbing one of his little paws against the side of his face in agitation. Which Prompto was also quick to document.

At least Prompto's photographer's eye was sated pretty quickly after that, for the time being anyway, and they were able to move on. Good thing too, Gladio had started to think he'd actually have to hide Ignis away in his pocket to keep Prompto's camera at bay.

Luckily, nothing else arose from the shadows to challenge them in the narrow passage way that led them straight to the last ruenstone. They found it sprouting of a shallow pool butting up against all sorts of plantlife. The runestone itself looked like some kind of petrified tree striped clean of its bark and bleached white with age. A shaft of light shone down from a tear in the cave ceiling, making the pale surface of the runestone seem to glow.

Noct stepped forward, pressing his palm to the smooth surface. Seconds later purple lightning zapped down, striking the runestone tree and traveling down into Noct just as had happened at the last two runestones. Except this time one of the arcs of lightning branched off of Noct and headed straight for Gladio. It happened so fast there wasn't time to move or even think about getting out of the way. All Gladio could do was let his eyes fall shut instinctively and brace for an impact that never came. Instead there was an indistinguishable noise at his shoulder before a sudden weight crashed down on him, throwing him back outside the ruenstone chamber and flattening him against the cave floor.

For a moment all he could do was exist there with the wind knocked out of him. Then the weight that had him pinned down disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared and concerned voices washed over him as arms came down to lever him off the ground. Glancing up past a worried Noct and Prompot at a fretting Iggy, towering over them at his normal size, Gladio slowly came to realize he had nearly been crushed under the dragon's feathered tail. Well, at least that was one less problem Gladio supposed.

"Gladio, are you alright?" Ignis asked, guilt and mortification clear in his expression despite the fact that he hadn't yet returned to looking human.

"Yup, takes more than being squished by a dragon to take this shield out," Gladio reassured. He might be a bit wobbly at the moment but he was sure nothing was broken at least.

Noct gave him his own critical once over, probably picking up on all the scrapes from their earlier encounter with the naga. "Yeah, well, this shield looks like he could use a potion anyway."

Gladio accepted the potion, mostly to set everyone's mind at ease.

"Wait, so that was it," Prompto asked, looking between them and back toward the chamber with the runestone.

Noct nodded, absently clenching his fist. "Yeah, that was it… the power of the storm."

"Huh, kinda expected more fire and brimstone and, ya know, epic aerial battle in the heart of the storm and all that mystical jazz." Prompto did his own overly energized version of jazz hands to illustrate his point.

"Probably for the best considering his ride was pint sized," Gladio reminded, more than okay with the lack of fanfare. "Besides, keep talking like that and something's bound to happen."

Prompto immediately changed his tune. "I take it back, boring is fine!"

"Hmm, it would seem not all members of the Hexatheon are so unreasonable," Ignis speculated, though he sounded pretty surprised himself. No small wonder looking back on their run in with Titan. Still, it was nice to know that not every encounter with the Six had to go so explosively. Who knew, maybe dealing with Leviathan would be smooth sailing too.

* * *

I, uh, wouldn't count on it Gladio...  
But, hey, I finally managed another update and at least the boys have Ramuh on their side now! Not to mention Prompto's pics of pocket Iggy. _I want copies_.  
Thanks to everyone for reading and sticking with this story! As always comments and feedback are super appreciated.


	15. The Dragon and the Regalia's Retrieval

Chapter Summary: Time to get our wheels back!

We've nearly made it to the weekend, guys, and have I got some exciting news! There's now _Fire Forged_ inspired art by the very talented ArabianNinja. If I'm understainding the rules correctly unfortunately I can not include the link here but this story is also posted on the Archive of Our Own database under the same name so if you'd like to go see their take on Dragon!Iggy you can find the link in the story notes there.

* * *

Noctis had to hand it to Iggy. His plan had gotten them inside Aracheole Stronghold without a hitch and so far they hadn't been spotted. So long as Cidy's intel held up they'd be driving out of here in the Regalia well before the end of the night. Maybe this whole stealth thing had its perks after all. Noctis was feeling pretty confident as he sidled up next to Prompto behind a couple of ammunition crates. The two of them watched a magitek armor lumber past their hiding spot in quieted awe.

"Dude," Prompto breathed, craning his head back to see more of the towering war machine. "How awesome would it be to sneak in there and give one of those babies a test drive?"

The idea plucked at Noct's inner daredevil but, as expected, nothing got past Iggy. "Need I remind you that the only drive we're here for is the one that will take the Regalia through the front gates – a task that will be made much more difficult by taking _unnecessary_ risks?"

"Next time," Noctis mouthed at his friend.

Coast clear, Gladio shepherded them forward. "Hate to mess with one of those anyway."

"Keep to the shadows and we shouldn't have to," Ignis pressed, pulling Noctis back from stepping into the path of a search light.

"Ah… right." Okay, so maybe Noctis could admit stealth wasn't quite so easy as it looked. Still, they hadn't been caught out yet and things were actually starting to get interesting. Working their way further into the base now, they could make out a tall tower shooting crackling, red energy straight up into the sky. It kinda reminded Noctis of the devices the Empire had used on Titan.

Prompto took in the odd structure with interest. "So this is what's powering the base?" And likely what was causing the red haze in the air, Noctis added silently. There was just something about it that made his skin crawl with a feeling of wrongness.

"A magitek generator of some description," Ignis supplied. "It would explain why the troopers in the vicinity are uncommonly strong."

Gladio considered the generator tower. "I say we wreck it. Spare us the sneaking around." Always one for busting up imperial property, Noctis wasn't against the idea himself.

Ignis shook his head. "The risk is too great. Finding the Regalia comes first." Which wasn't a surprising verdict really. Ignis was just as protective of the Regalia as Noctis – maybe a little more so when it came to driving it.

"We can always come back and smash it later," Noctis decided. Even if it was possible the portable base would be moving on soon they'd probably still get their chance to do some damage.

They ducked back down as more soldiers filed out to patrol the area. Ignis gave him a nod and Noctis warped to the top of the closest watchtower. The high vantage point gave him a decent view of all six soldiers milling about as well as when would be the perfect time to strike.

Two soldiers working their way toward the southern end went down first, one after the other before either even knew he was there. He took out soldier number three with similar ease before warping up to a nearby scaffolding to scope out his next move. The rest were closer to the next security gate. Catching them all with their backs turned would be the trick here.

His heart sped up with anticipation as he gathered his magic, waiting for an opening. He couldn't help but feel antsy. They'd already agreed that if they couldn't get the Regalia out by sunrise they'd have to leave without her. It wasn't a comforting thought, even though they still had time. Between that and the oppressive air of this place it was getting hard to be patient.

_There_. Noctis warped onto the next soldier, bringing him down without a fuss and the one after was just as quick. He just wasn't quite so lucky on his last target. The final soldier must have heard his buddy go down because he turned around before Noct could even free his sword.

"Hey!"

A riffle was raised between them but Noct moved before the first shot could fire, ending the confrontation without allowing the imperial to give them away.

When the guys caught up Gladio gave him one of those judgmental side eyes of his. "Cutting it a bit close for comfort there."

"I had it under control." Mostly, Noctis thought.

Luckily, Ignis choose not to point out his feelings of uncertainty or send him any sense of chiding or disapproval, though Noct's not entirely certain he won't hear about this later. Whatever, future Noctis' problem now.

Besides, they'd found what they came for; the Regalia sat waiting just on the other side of the security gate. Noctis could hardly contain his relief. "There's the old girl."

"She's a real sight for sore eyes," Prompto enthused, consciously keeping his voice down.

"And none the worse for her time in imperial hands," Ignis added, giving the Regalia a quick once over. And he seemed to be right about that, but Noctis knew they'd still be dropping her off with Cindy for an extensive checkup just in case the Niffs tried any tampering.

Of course, with things going so smoothly it was only a matter of time till their luck really ran out. And true to form, it was in about the most explosive way possible. Steps away from the car a disembodied voice rang out, shattering the quiet of the night and their cover along with it.

"_What have we here?" _

The Empire must have been expecting them after all, or maybe they really were just that unlucky Noctis thought sourly to himself as one of the magitek armors that had been dormant and folded in on itself against the far wall stood up to its full height. He noticed it was a more supped up model than the ones they'd seen patrolling the base earlier. Taller too. Well, you know what they say about the bigger they are…

Noctis warped forward before the magitek could get them in its sights, tearing off the back mounted missile launcher in the process. It staggered under the warp strike but didn't stay down for long. Noctis had to warp away again or risk getting smacked by one of its weaponized arms. He frowned at the magitek's quick recovery. Thing was definitely more sturdy than usual and if the sudden influx of soldiers and MTs into the area was any indication, this fight was just getting started.

He felt a twinge of irritation work its way through Ignis as he called his daggers back after propelling them into the nearest MT with vindictive force. "Change of plans. Our new objective is to clear a path for the Regalia."

So they cleaned house. The Niffs had made the job a bit easier by leaving plenty of combustible energy tanks laying around. Ignis was quick to notice and mark them as targets. Noctis and Prompto also took the opportunity to borrow a couple of unmanned turrets to help even the odds. With most of the soldiers kept busy Ignis and Gladio were able to dismantle the oversized magitek armor without interruption.

Once they'd thinned the base's forces Noctis turned to Ignis. "So about that generator?"

"Might as well take care of it while we're at it," Ignis agreed after coming down on an unfortunate MT unit lance first. "Our cover's blown. Go to town."

Noctis loved those words.

Working back through the base went a lot faster this time around. Even dealing with the tougher troopers didn't slow them down too much and soon they were coming up on the generator tower. There was just one little hiccup to removing the imperial eyesore.

"Uh, guys, I think we're in trouble," Prompto warned as whole line of magitek armors activated in front of the generator with one of the larger models up front.

"That's a lot of tin cans," Gladio complained.

And that wasn't their only problem Noctis noticed as the red trail of sniper scopes soon zeroed in on them as well. "Think we can't take 'em?"

Gladio huffed. "Not sayin' that. But things might get a bit hairy."

That turned out to be a bit of an understatement. The imperials tried to keep them pinned down with an almost constant stream of bullets. It very nearly worked. Noctis couldn't stay still for more than two seconds before he had to warp to more cover. He tried to take care of the snipers perched on a scaffolding in front of the generator, but he barely got to the first gunman before a magitek armor fired its missiles and the metal walkway came apart under his feet.

The fall wasn't a bad one but he'd felt Ignis' flare of alarm before he even hit the ground. He wasn't surprised when the dragon somehow managed to get to his side and pull him up off the ground and back behind cover. Ignis gave them a little breathing room by firing off a blast of elemancy into the closest knot of magitek armors, flames knocking a few of them off balance but not removing any of the machines from the fight.

"I think it's time we dispensed with the charade." Ignis frowned, clearly dissatisfied with their dwindling options. "Preserving my identity prevails us naught if we don't survive the night."

"Hold that thought," Noctis interrupted, feeling something shift in the atmosphere. An odd sensation had caught on to the edge of his senses that was steadily working its way down his spine and into his very veins, making the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end as the air became thick with static. A roll of thunder sounded in the distance. "You feel that too, right?"

Ignis blinked in understanding. "The Fulgurian."

And with those words he recognized the charged presence for what it was. Ramuh was reaching out, offering assistance. Noctis reached back.

What happened next felt more like an oddly lucid fever dream than reality. In a crackle of ozone Ramuh was there, all decked out in flowing, ethereal robes and larger than life. He took Noctis in his hand and lifted him up and up, till he looked down on the base hundreds of feet below. Then the Storm Bringer's staff was raised high and lightning came down to meet it, channeling deadly bolts down onto the imperials that were so bright they seared the backs of Noctis' eyelids.

In the aftermath the ground glowed hot, orange embers floating up from the cracked concrete as if lava lurked underneath. Noctis found himself on his feet again, Ramuh having vanished just as suddenly as he'd appeared. He numbly made his way toward where the others were huddled, feeling a weird disconnect from the rest of his body. _So this is… the power of the Six._

"Dude… that… was… hardcore!" Prompto pumped his fists in the air to punctuate his excitement.

"And it did the trick – the place is dead." Ignis looked around a little stunned himself, almost like he was in a daze of his own.

"Rest in pieces," Gladio snarked vindictively before hooking his thumb back to where they'd left the car. "C'mon, let's grab the Regalia and split."

They turned back to do just that. But instead of taking the wheel once they got there as Noctis expected, Ignis hesitated. "I was mistaken before. We're not alone."

Noctis frowned, not sure how anyone could have survived Ramuh raining down judgment on this place, but after realizing who it was he supposed if anyone could manage it unscathed it would be a member of House Fleuret – not that the jerk deserved that protection after everything he had pulled.

The high commander himself stalked toward them like a dark storm cloud, rapier drawn. "Long has it been Prince Noctis. You've received the storm's blessing, yet you know nothing of the consequences."

Noctis was going to ask what the hell he was going on about but got distracted by the sword tip winding up inches from his face.

"Watch it." Gladio tried to insert himself between them but Ravus just turned his sword to Gladio's throat instead.

Ignis stepped forward to intervene as well but held back when Ravus' eyes flashed to him, not willing to be reckless with an enemy blade against Gladio's airway. "And what of you," he tried, "have you so forsaken your own calling?"

Ravus scoffed. "Don't be asinine. Only those that make their own calling in this world are ever truly rewarded. _Heir to a crown befitting no other. Witness his splendor and glory. All hail the chosen king_. Honestly, I'll not chance destiny on such folly."

At those words Noctis saw red. It wasn't as if he'd asked for any of this. "Awful high and mighty for an imperial rat serving the enemy to hunt down Luna!"

Then Noctis had metal fingers around his neck. "I don't serve, I command," Ravus spat as he shoved him back.

Gladio moved then, taking the full brunt of Ravus' ire, allowing Noctis a moment to recover and distracting from Ignis' more subtle movements.

"The king's sworn shield," Ravus growled.

"You better believe it," Gladio challenged right back.

"I have not come to test the brittleness of a shield." Ravus brought his sword down without warning, forcing Gladio to hastily bring up his guard.

Noctis could see the tremor in Gladio's arms as he struggled against the power of Ravus' magitek arm. Ravus snapped his wrist, dispelling Gladio's sword and bringing around his rapier to block Ignis' incoming lance.

"Then perhaps it's best if you take your leave," Ignis hissed, holding his own against Ravus' unnatural strength but trying not to make it look too easy. "The path on which you tread will not right the wrongs of the past nor will it avail the future."

"Such wise words spoken from one who blindly walks the broken path set forth for him." Ravus' anger seemed to evaporate from his expression as cool calculation took its place. "If the future is truly your concern then mayhaps you should heed your own advice."

Noctis was just about ready to give Ravus some advice of his own but before more could be said Ardyn made his unwelcome presence known. "I'd say that's enough of that. A hand Highness?"

"Not from you," Noctis shot back, immediately on edge.

As usual, Ardyn didn't seem overly concerned by the hostility. "Oh, but I'm here to help."

"And how is that?" Ignis demanded, cautiously disengaging from Ravus.

"By taking the army away," Ardyn cheerfully supplied.

Gladio scoffed. "You expect us to believe that?"

"When next we meet it will be across the seas. Just so happens we have business of our own with the tutelary deity, don't we?" Ardyn cut his eyes over to Ravus who refrained from comment, merely following along after his departing master like the obedient dog he apparently was. Either way nothing seemed to bother Ardyn. The man waved grandly as they took their leave. "Fare the well, Your Majesty. And safe travels."

As they begrudgingly watched the pair go Noctis couldn't help the unsettling feeling that he'd missed something important here.

Ravus observed from the air as the child king and his misguided protectors made their escape, north bound. Lestallum bound.

He dialed his contact and waited for the secure line to connect. "Yes, target is confirmed and headed your way. Proceed as planned."

Today's encounter may not have gone quite as hoped but soon enough fate would be turning in his favor all the same.

* * *

_*Ravus scheming noises*_  
Man, does anyone else agree that stealth missions were the worst? XD Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy out there!


	16. The Dragon and the Ambush

Chapter Summary: More than a reunion awaits in Lestallum.

Man, does it feel like it's been a while. Sorry for the delay on this update. With all the craziness going on it's been hard to get in my usual writing groove and I took a bit of time to dust off some unfinished projects to get back in the swing of things, but it's finally finished! Hopefully the chapter being extra long helps make the wait a little more worthwhile. :D

* * *

Having the Regalia back was like being reunited with a piece of home. It's very essence suffused in dark panes of crafted metal, echoed in the engine's throaty roar and mingled with the sweet scent of earthly leather as they ate up the miles of the roadway in what had become all but routine in recent months. High spirits reigned on their return journey to Lestallum, a welcome respite for their somewhat tenuous moral. For all that they'd made some headway in thwarting the Empire's schemes, there was still much to do.

Such as checking in with Iris on the status of His Majesty's vessel hidden away in Cape Caem. They'd already requested Cindy meet them in Lestallum as well to perform a cautionary check-up in the meantime. Eager to see to the Regalia for herself, their ever loyal mechanic had easily agreed, and Ignis thought the expense of her mobile services well worth every gil.

Any feelings of contentment, however, dissipated rather abruptly once they entered Lestallum proper. Ignis couldn't immediately place the source of the general unease that crept along the fringes of his subconscious, but something was decidedly off about the normally bustling hub of activity. The streets were far more clear of pedestrian traffic than was to be expected during the busiest hours of the day, and the residents that were out and about displayed a notable wariness – one he knew not to of existed when last they paid visit to the city. He gave voice to his concerns when the oddity persisted even through the main thoroughfare, "Something's not right."

Prompto turned back to look at him curiously. "Huh, you mean like there's a disturbance in the Force? Oh, oh! Your dragon senses are tingling?"

"Well, whatever it is, he's got a point." Gladio nodded toward the thin crowds on the street. "Check the locals out. Somethin's got 'em spooked."

Noct frowned, as if noticing the people giving them a wider berth than was necessary for the first time. "You guys think it's the Niffs?"

"We've not enough information to know for certain, but I wouldn't discount the possibility." If the Empire was here Ignis couldn't help but notice they were doing a far better job at keeping their presence discreet than usual.

"We better hurry and check on Iris and the others, then," Gladio reasoned. "If the Empire's around they'll know about it."

Ignis shook his head. "Better to be cautious. If there is some sort of trouble lying in wait then the Leville would be the ideal location to spring it."

"So we keep our heads down, find out what we can," Noct suggested, tugging the cap he normally wore with his more casual attire further down his face.

"And really hope nobody shoots at us," Prompto added.

They took a slightly less direct path to the Leville from there, hoping to gather more intel on the situation. As it turned out, even the market was sparse on customers today, with several stalls shut down entirely. However, there was one vendor still conducting business that Ignis easily recognized from the tour on their first morning in the Lestallum.

The accessory stall was not particularly memorable in and of itself save for the slight peculiarity of being manned by two, one of which just so happened to be an unusually shrewd child – who's astucious behavior Prompto had mistakenly attempted to equate with Ignis' own childhood.

The very same young gentleman was present at his post today, sat at one end of the stall behind several crates packed high with unsold merchandise. He may have recognized them as well if the way his eyes lit up at their approach was any indication, though it could've simply been the draw of potential customers. "See somethin' that grabs your fancy, mister?"

"Just these," Ignis answered, picking out a lone bottle of hair gel and several pairs of socks, commodities commonly misplaced by more than one of their party. Even if the exchange was mostly a ruse to remain close to the stall at least the purchases would not go to waste. As he handed over the gil he made a show of glancing around the partially deserted marketplace. "Business seems rather slow today."

The boy scoffed. "Yeah, everyone's made themselves real scarce ever since the Empire waltzed into town."

"You don't say? Wonder what they could be after," Noct pondered aloud with convincing naiveté.

The boy shifted his eyes from side to side, sweeping them over the other market goers. Seemingly satisfied, he leaned in towards them, pitching his voice low. "Ya didn't hear it from me, but word is some bigwig commander is staking out the Leville, waitin' for Insomnian fugitives to show their unlucky mugs."

Ignis could practically feel Gladio tensing up beside him and quickly gathered up their purchases. "I see. Well then, I suppose we'd best be moving on."

"Oh, before ya run off, there's one other thing…" The child slid a slip of folded paper across the counter. "The kid that was with you lot a couple of weeks ago, he's been looking for ya. Smart dressed. Big on manners. Ya can find 'im here."

"Ah, my thanks." Ignis accepted the paper and found a simple address scrawled within.

"What was that about," Noctis murmured as soon as they'd reached the outer edge of the market.

Gladio crossed his arms, worry practically radiating off his person. "He's gotta be talking about Talcott."

Prompto's brow furrowed as he glanced between them. "Okay, but why would he be looking for us all by himself?"

A concern Ignis was wondering about himself. "I say we best find out."

The address led them to a nondescript apartment in one of the city's residential sectors. It took Ignis a moment to recognize it was Talcott who answered the door. The boy ushered them in quickly, his features hidden behind simple rags and scent ripe with fear.

He didn't waste any time once the door was sealed behind them, pulling the improvised mask away from his face and drinking in the sight of them like a man cast adrift viewed the shore. "Thank goodness you've come!"

"Talcott, you alright?" Gladio leaned down to inspect the boy, though other than a bit of dirt smeared on his clothes he seemed outwardly unharmed.

"Uh huh." Talcott smiled, expression charged with relief and something else Ignis wasn't as sure of. The boy quickly turned his eyes to Noct. "Now that you're here, we can save Grandpa and Lady Iris!"

"Of course." Noct kneeled down to better meet the young boy's eyes. "Can you tell us what happened, Talcott?"

Talcott nodded, words tumbling out in a nervous rush. "While you were gone a man came to the hotel. He was wearing big, fancy armor and brought a lot of soldiers with him. I was in the lobby with Grandpa when he spotted us."

Here the boy hesitated, breaking eye contact as he gathered his words. "Grandpa told me to run but the man didn't like that. He yelled a lot, said we knew where you were and about some beast. Then he yelled for the soldiers to bring me back."

"But you got away, didn't you?" Noct asked, getting a quick confirmation out of Talcott.

"Yeah, I lost them in the crowds. A very kind family found me and allowed me to stay here until the Empire leaves."

"Huh, Lestallum really is home to some generous people," Prompto commented, and Ignis agreed. He made note to memorize the apartment's location. Such kindness ought to be rewarded once the current crisis no longer hung over their heads.

Gladio shook his head, frustration evident in the crease of his brow and the gruff rumble of his words. "What I don't get, is why the Niffs would suspect Jared in the first place."

Noct frowned. "Yeah, pretty fishy if you ask me."

And while it was a bit strange Jared had been singled out, it was not so improbable for Noct to have been recognized in Jared's company during their last stay. Lestallum may not have seemed like a hotbed for imperial sympathizers, but all it took was for the information to wind up in the wrong hands once. Ignis was about to suggest as such when Talcott spoke up, "Um… Prince Noctis, there's something else I should tell you."

Noct's attention snapped back to the distressed boy before them, his voice taking on a gentler edge. "What is it, Talcott?"

"Please, grandpa didn't do anything wrong." Poor Talcott was shaking now. All of them shared concerned glances over his head before he continued, eyes glued to the floor, "I… I'd seen that man before. He talked to me, asked me things. Then, he followed me to the hotel. And I-I'm the one to blame."

Gladio knelt down on Talcott's other side, gripping his shoulder firmly. "Talcott, what are you saying?"

Talcott finally looked up, tears of shame streaming down his face. "The reason he knew we were from Insomnia was because of me."

Before any of them could say a word to that, a brotherly instinct must have awoken in Gladio as he gathered Talcott up in his arms. The small boy was all but dwarfed in the embrace, but Ignis noticed his shivering begin to taper off. "You listen to me, buddy. Nobody blames you or your grandpa for what happened."

"He's right." Noct fixed Talcott with his most serious kingly look, the one Ignis knew he practiced in the mirror on occasion. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Yeah," Prompto chimed in. "It was awfully brave of you to tell us."

Talcott pushed his way out of Gladio's bear hug, a spark of hope alight in his watery eyes. "Does this mean you'll still save him? Oh, and Lady Iris too?"

"Of course," Ignis answered. "It's high time we made this right."

"Thank you, sirs!" Talcott threw himself into as deep a bow as Gladio's close proximity would allow, court manners doubtless instilled into the boy by none other than Jared himself.

Noct smiled at his renewed enthusiasm. "Right. Time to put some imperials in their place."

* * *

"Still don't like leaving the little guy on his lonesome," Gladio grumbled as they came up on the Leville.

"Nor do I," Ignis agreed. "But we've little option at the moment." They had no way of knowing how quickly they'd need to make their exit after springing the Empire's trap. It was best to have Talcott someplace they wouldn't have to worry about him being left behind.

"We checked the parking lot over pretty thoroughly. There's no imperials hanging around there and he seems to like the idea of guarding our getaway car." Noct grinned at the memory of the small boy taking the "responsibility" to heart, swearing the Regalia would be quite safe under his stewardship. In hindsight, they should be relieved the boy hadn't attempted any daring rescue attempts before they'd arrived.

Prompto fidgeted with one of his armbands. "Talcott sure is a tough little dude."

Gladio sighed. "Yeah, he is."

"And, should everything go according to plan, he won't be alone for long," Ignis reminded.

"Then let's get to it, already," Gladio huffed impatiently. "We've kept Iris and Jared waiting long enough."

They took the back alleyways around the fountain square and, suspiciously, spotted no imperials guarding the hotel or any of the surrounding establishments.

"Maybe they're all just getting coffee?" Prompto offered half-heartedly.

"This stinks of an ambush," Gladio growled, doubtless struggling against his instincts to rush in with the last living remnants of his family on the line. "We've got no choice but to go in blind."

"Perhaps not, if we're able to find another way in." Ignis pointedly looked toward one of the nearby taller buildings.

"Nice, Specs." Noct grinned, summoning a weapon for warping.

"Don't be reckless," Ignis warned. "If our suspicions are correct there will undoubtedly be people watching the building. There won't be room for error. If you're spotted this may well escalate into a hostage situation."

"Got it." Noct nodded more seriously, turning to Gladio next. "I'll find out what's up and we'll get them to safety." Then he was gone, latching onto the exterior of the apartment complex butted up against the Leville before moving to the overhang supporting the hotel's neon signage and ducking down out of sight. He group texted them only moments later.

_Noct: Got eyes on Iris_

Ignis shared a quick look with Gladio just as another message came through.

_Noct: She's not alone_

_Noct: a lot of goons in the next room over_

Ignis frowned. It wasn't the ideal situation but not unexpected.

_Ignis: Stay where you are if you can. We're coming to back you up._

_Noct: Hurry :(_

Prompto blinked down at his phone. "So, uh, how are we supposed to get up there without being seen exactly?"

"If memory serves there should be a service entryway around the back of the building." Ignis directed them down one of the side allies. "With any luck, it'll be less secure than the front entrance."

"Right." Gladio cracked his knuckles. "Time to take out the trash."

As it turned out, there was a service entrance, one they were able to force entry through with little difficulty. They didn't even encounter resistance until they reached the stairwell. Two imperial soldiers were dealt with soundly before they moved up to their destination, but by the time they reached the desired floor there was already a commotion spilling out into the hall, from Iris' room no less.

"Would it kill the guy to sit tight for a few minutes?" Gladio rushed forward and shoulder checked the door off its hinges. The scene that greeted them showed Noct engaging a small contingent of soldiers, occupying most of their attention while Iris finished off one of her attackers, decking him with a viscous right hook.

The distraction they'd caused by breaking down the door gave Noct the chance to cut through two more of the soldiers. "About time you guys joined the party."

"And here I thought you'd be so kind as to wait up for us," Ignis replied as he took up position at Noct's side, drawing more of the soldiers' attention while Gladio moved to cover his sister.

"Yeah, dude. Totally rude to start the fun without us." Prompto positioned himself at Noct's other side, pistol at the ready.

"Sorry, somethin' must have tipped them off. They made a move on Iris," Noct informed them, switching to a pair of daggers more appropriate for the crowded confines of the room.

Ignis held in a sigh. "I suppose it can't be helped, then. We'd best end this quickly."

Unfortunately, a clean getaway was not in the cards. No sooner had they finished off the last of Iris' uninvited guests when a deployment of MT units arrived at the doorless entryway. The mechanized soldiers filed inside the room and lined either side of the opening with, rifles drawn. Their entrance was swiftly followed by that of an imperial officer.

Ignis narrowed his eyes at the newcomer outfitted in the Empire's trademark magitek armor. The more ornate design and embellishments suggested the man to be a general or of some similarly high-ranking position. Likely the officer Talcott had been questioned by, then.

"Well, if it isn't the king and his fools," The officer crowed, the aging lines of his faces drawn into a self-satisfied smirk. He swept his arms out wide to either side, as if to encompass the whole of the wrecked hotel suite. "Did you really believe you'd escaped retribution so easily after leaving behind such a mess at Aracheole? As if the Empire would be so lax."

"Yeah, and what's an imperial clown like you gonna do about it?" Noct challenged.

The man huffed in annoyance. "You'd do well to watch your tongue. But perhaps an introduction is in order – my name is Commander Caligo Ulldor, and I do not tolerate insult to our glorious Empire. Surrender now and I may allow you your miserable lives."

"Great, another theatric nut," Ignis could hear Gladio grumbling under his breath in the far corner of the suite where he attempted to make himself into a literal human shield for Iris, but his focus was drawn to Noct as their eyes met – a silent understanding passing between them.

Yet Noct remained perfectly casual as he addressed the haughty commander, "Yeah, sorry. We're gonna have to take a raincheck on that."

Ignis barely registered the look of utter outrage blooming across the imperial's purpling face before he launched lightning elemancy at the floor in front of the door, temporarily blinding the man and hopefully wreaking havoc on the MT units' wiring.

They didn't wait to find out. The window Noct had likely came crashing through earlier during his heroics on Iris' behalf proved a convenient exit, though one they'd hardly passed the threshold of before the first hail of bullets sounded off behind them.

"Do not let the Insomnian rats escape!" Caligo bellowed in their wake.

They all scrambled out onto the hotel overhang, bits of glass and drywall clouding the air with debris as the window behind them was practically pulverized. In front of them the Leville's distinctive cursive L – stylized to resemble the crescent shape of the moon – sparked, shards of golden plastic raining down over the street.

"Everyone hang on!" Noct shouted. Once they'd all grabbed ahold he warped them safely down to the ground in front of the hotel.

"So, you guys think the hotel will hold us liable for that?" Prompto glanced behind them as more soldiers filed out of the hotel.

"They can take up their grievances with the Empire. For now we should move," Ignis urged, steering the group toward nearest alleyway where they ducked out of sight from their pursuers. The walkways were worryingly lacking in cover as they rounded the next bend, heading straight into the market. Hopefully even with the sparse crowds they'd be able to lose the Empire in the more populated area and meet up with Talcott at the Regalia without further incident.

They received more than a few odd looks as they hustled through the market area, weaving between the stalls with more haste than was likely polite, but everyone's attention was soon on the imperials who had begun their search at the entrance.

Luckily for them there was another way out, one that offered a direct route to Lestallum's power plant. They slipped into the back alleyway in the confusion and didn't slow down until they exited the opposite end. There they found a bit of cover to regroup before making the final push to the Regalia.

Gladio took the opportunity to properly look after his sister. "Hey, you doin' alright?"

Oddly, Iris looked closer to tears now than at any point she'd been fighting for her life at the Leville. "I-I'm fine. I just-I'm sorry, Gladdy. I don't know where Talcott is and Jared –"

"Hey, don't worry about Talcott," Noct interrupted.

"Yeah," Prompto tacked on, pumping as much reassurance as possible into his tone. "Little dude's safe and waiting on us at the car."

"Really?" Iris rubbed her knuckles harshly against her cheek, scrubbing at a stray tear. "I'm so glad you guys found him."

And while Iris did seem relieved at the news, her tears still persisted. Gladio, of course, noticed this as well. "Iris, what were you saying about Jared? Do you know where he is?"

Iris' breath hitched. "He's gone. The Empire. When they came… Jared was just trying to talk them down, ya know. He didn't do anything to deserve –" A chocked sob cut off her words, but the meaning behind them was clear all the same.

Ignis could hear the creak of leather as Gladio fisted his hands. "They're gonna pay."

"Oh yeah," Noct, spoke lowly, edged with fury and resolve. "We won't let them get away with this."

Ignis could feel the raw emotions wash over them like a tidal wave. Jared had been a good man. Kind and dependable, he'd practically raised Gladio and Iris both as their father's duty made time for his family scarce, much like it had for King Regis' ability to be there for Noct. And then there was poor Talcott to consider. The boy would be devastated.

But before any vengeful actions could solidify a loud crack sounded off from across the city. In the distance several towers of bright, red energy shot into the sky, forming an eerily familiar dome that began to encompass the entire area.

Prompto pointed up at the expanding barrier. "Guys… why is the sky turning red?"

Noct gasped. "It-it looks like the Wall."

And it did. Well, some perverse modification of Insomnia's Wall, that was. In place of the Crystal's divine light, this construct was laced with the same Astral killing energy that seemingly ran all of the Empire's latest toys. Ignis could swear he felt a faint roll of discomfort over the connections he shared with Titan and Ramuh as the imitation wall closed in around the city. He found himself thinking back on Ravus' parting words. Was this what he'd been alluding to? "I imagine this one has a different purpose. Rather than keep the Empire out, it's meant to keep us in."

"They've got some nerve copying us like that," Gladio growled.

Noct clenched his fists, hot fury rippling through their bond. "Well, this knock-off's not gonna work. Let's take it out."

"Agreed. There must be generators of some kind hidden within the city for them to pull this off," Ignis pointed out.

"So we just need to go blow 'em up and the wall comes crumbling down?" Prompto mimed shooting fingerguns with the accompanying sound effects. "Simple as that?"

Noct hummed in approval. "Works for me."

"Then let's do it," Iris spoke up, voice much more steady then before.

"You sure you don't want to sit this one out?" Gladio asked, though he looked as if he already knew the answer.

There was determined fire in Iris's eyes now. "Absolutely. Let's show the Empire they've messed with the wrong family."

* * *

Finding the generators turned into a simple enough matter. They were all exposed to allow for minimal interference between the devices and the wall blocking out the sky, making them easy to locate. Unfortunately, they were also spread across the city.

"I make a count of three," Ignis remarked as he ducked back down behind cover with the others.

Noct sighed. "Great. Think we should split up?"

That was the question. Between the five of them they could divide into two less noticeable yet formidable teams, potentially finishing their objective and getting to Talcott much faster. They'd, of course, be more vulnerable apart, but Ignis couldn't deny speed would be their ally here. "I believe that's best. We'll split into two teams. Alone you and I should be able to cover the most ground. We'll take the generators on the back half of Lestallum. Everyone else can target the one nearer the city's main entryway. It's likely to be the most guarded, but also the closest to Talcott."

"So we take it out and then go check up on the kid," Gladio finished, seemingly satisfied to keep Iris at his side, though a bit less so with allowing Noct out of his sight. "You two better watch your backs out there, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Noct brushed off the concern.

"I mean it," Gladio pressed. "There's no telling what else the Empire has up their sleeve and you'll be without backup."

"Okay, we'll stay on our toes. Now we doin' this or not?"

They parted ways there, each team heading for their prospective targets. Noctis and Ignis found the nearest generator only a short ways from the power plant. Perched atop a grey cinder block building, the device projected a steady stream of blood red energy that fed their temporary prison.

Ignis had never paid visit to any of the amplifiers that helped sustain Insomnia's Wall, but he was still able to pick out a few key differences. For one, the imperial imitation was much more compact, likely build for ease of mobility rather than durability. Secondly, and much to their benefit, the device lacked both the protective shielding and guardians of old that stood vigil over Insomnia's defenses. All that was to be found in their place were the handful of armed guards stationed on the roof and at the street level.

"You want the ground or the roof?" Noct posed the question as he crouched down at the mouth of the alley they had chosen for their approach, his anxious energy coiled and ready for a fight.

"Ground," Ignis decided. Noct's more flashy moveset would hopefully draw less attention above pedestrian sight lines. Not that Ignis stood much chance of completely avoiding a scene. Unlike the men Noct had managed to get the drop on at Archeole Stronghold, these soldiers were expecting trouble.

With no point in delaying the inevitable, he summoned his daggers and rushed the first guard while Noct made his way to the roof. The man shouted at him to lower his weapons, bringing his rifle to bear, but that was as far as he made it. Lucian steel made quick work of his windpipe.

Ignis called his daggers back to hand as two more guards came from the other corners of the building. Over the din of the rising panic from the few people on the street he could hear the commotion from above as Noct took care of the rooftop defenses. He moved in close, where there'd be less room for his opponents to aim and his strength advantage would give him the greatest edge. He easily pushed back the next soldier against the wall, his daggers finding their mark once again. He quickly dismissed them to bring his lance down onto the last guard.

An explosion sounded from the roof and the red haze in the air shuttered, giving Ignis a distinct feeling of unease. Noct warped to his side a moment later. "One down."

Ignis shrugged off the odd sensation. "Two to go."

It wasn't long into their trek to the next generator that a second explosion could be heard from the other side of the city. The red wall paled and crackled in the aftermath, but did not collapse as Ignis half hoped it would. "It would appear the others have made their move."

"Then I guess we better get a move on." Noct led them down the next side street.

Ignis followed close behind, tugging Noct down behind a conveniently placed dumpster when he noticed a patrol passing through the intersection ahead. "Not so fast we give ourselves away."

Thankfully, the soldiers didn't remain in the area and they were free to continue forward. The generator wasn't far now, but it soon became apparent that it was much more heavily defended than their last target.

In an open space that might have served as storage or perhaps a gathering place of some sort, a whole squadron appeared to be stationed around the device, backed by a sizable amount of MT units. Their target was on the ground this time with many of the soldiers hovering extra close, nearly blocking it from view.

"Looks like they invited more muscle to the party," Noct observed once they'd gone as far as they could without drawing attention to themselves.

Ignis hummed in agreement. "We'd wise to act before any late arrivals make an appearance."

"Works for me." Noct summoned a great sword and hurled it straight for the soldiers posted around the generator. He followed a second later, slicing into them with the heavy blade.

Ignis diverted what attention he could to himself, using his lance to dive into the MTs and channeling lightning elemancy to flit back and forth between their defenses. With only the two of them taking out this many opponents would take longer than he'd have liked, but they were managing well enough. Soon Ignis was within range to incinerate the generator with a blast of fire.

The energy feed to the wall cut out and the backlash knocked over the remaining soldiers at its side. Without support from the final generator the barrier around the city began to crumble and fizzle out.

But before they could enjoy the sight of the blue sky, the device gave out one final shockwave of that poisonous energy. Ignis all but stumbled to his knees when it made contact, confused at the intensity of his reaction. The feeling of wrongness he always picked up off the Empire's contraptions was increased to the point he was starting to feel a bit woozy. What was this?

"Ignis!"

Ignis snapped his eyes up from the charred remains of the generator just in time for Noct to tackle him to the ground. A riffle's rapport sounded out among the surrounding discord and he allowed himself to roll with the fall, burying his feelings of discomfort and chastising himself for losing focus in the midst of battle. He hurried to pull them both to their feet.

Noct hissed as he was tugged up, grasping at his arm, and Ignis felt a bolt of cold dread settle in his stomach. "Are you hurt?"

Noct winced, pulling loose a small dart from his shoulder. "Uh, this might be a problem."

The imperials wouldn't be allowing them the time to find out. It was Ignis' turn to shove Noct out of the way as one of the last of the MTs fired its stun cables at his turned back. Ignis had meant to burn up the projectiles in a fiery blast of elemacy, but whatever was wrong with him appeared to have the added of effect of making the magic sluggish to obey his call. Instead, one of the cables wrapped itself tightly around his wrist and discharged a numbing shock through his entire body.

Noct twisted and sliced through the cable before Ignis could manage more than a startled yelp. "Hey, y-you alright?"

"More or less." His wrist would likely be sporting a nasty burn but it wasn't anything a potion couldn't remedy. The more pressing concern was whatever was swimming in Noct's bloodstream and the imperials barring their escape. "We should concentrate on clearing a path. We need to rendezvous with the others."

"And I'd hate to… to be late." Noct made to lift his sword but paused to blink at the MTs trying to surround them.

"Noct?" Ignis placed his hand on Noct's shoulder when he began to sway in place.

"Hmm, sleepy."

"This is no time for a nap!" Ignis grit his teeth as he batted away one of the oncoming shcok troopers, shoving Noct behind him. Since when did imperials use tranquilizers? And stun cables? Why were they relying on immobilization tactics?

Ignis shredded the MT in front of him and kicked it into the others before sending his daggers into the one of the soldiers training a rifle on them. There weren't too many of them left, even without his magic to rely on. If Ignis could make an opening before reinforcements arrived they had a solid chance of escape.

Plan in place, Ignis called his lance to hand and twirled the blade between a wavering Noct and a soldiers attempting to rush them. He used the weapon's longer reach to slice a swath through the imperials that had gotten too close. He grabbed a barely awake Noct and practically dragged him toward the closest alley.

They'd nearly reached its relative safety when Commander Caligo's voice called out over a speaker system of some sort.

"_And just where do you think you're going?" _

A large magitek armor jumped down from the rooftops, blocking their path.

"_I tried being reasonable with you Insomnian tripe. I really did. And how do repay my kindness? Just like that impudent steward, you spit in my face. I, nah, the Empire itself shall endure your insolence no longer!"_

Ignis wrapped his fingers around the neck of a flask from the armiger. He didn't often use flasks. Their conveniences often proved more useful to those in danger of expending their reserves much more rapidly. And while it did take time to for him to gather his magic and bend it to his purposes, as long as he planned accordingly he found the delay more than manageable. However, flasks also allowed for experimentation with certain alchemic side effects. The result of one such experiment was in his hand now. If Noct had met his mark, then the ice spell contained within this particular flask should produce a rather potent anesthesia. He only hoped Noct was still awake enough for this plan to work.

Caligo raised one of the arms of the magitek. It was likely meant as a signal. Ignis glanced back at the soldiers closing in from behind, coming into range.

"_This will be your last chance. Lay down your weapons and submit!"_

"I'm afraid we'll have to decline." Ignis pulled Noct to his side. "Can you warp us forward, as far as you can?"

Noct was all but a breath away from unconsciousness. "Mmm-eah."

Then they vanished in a flash of blue sparks between the legs of the magitek and collapsed in a heap in the middle of the alley behind it. Not as far as Ignis would have hoped but it would have to do. He threw the flask against the magitek's exterior and turned to shield Noct before they were blanketed by a wave of freezing cold.

The spell turned out to be a bit more potent than he'd anticipated, coating every surface of the alley in a thick layer of ice and whipping a chilly mist into the air. Not that he was in danger from the cold. Even without easy access to elemancy, Ignis' core was far warmer than any human's and maintained a steady internal temperature indifferent to the whims of his environment. And, luckily, he possessed some manner of immunity to magical side effects, especially from Noct's magic. As long as he was kept close, Noct should be safe as well.

Ignis glanced over his shoulder to find the remaining soldiers collapsed and that if Caligo had somehow escaped the pull of the magic's sleep effect then his magitek was too frozen to turn and face them.

He had to coax a bit of heat to the surface to unfreeze them from the icy ground. Once that was done he slung a snoozing Noct's arm over his shoulders and grabbed hold of his waist in an improvised carry that hopefully wouldn't appear too unseemly, before taking off toward the other end of the city. When he reacted the end of the alleyway and the streets started opening up he tried to blend in with the few panicked people still roaming the streets, feigning to be just as confused as to what all the commotion was about, but doubted he was very convincing.

On a more relieving note, the further he ran the more he felt whatever the effect the busted generator had on him begin to wane. And the better he felt the more Ignis found he was able to pick up the pace. They'd nearly made it the edge of the city when they ran into Prompto.

The blond sidled up and sprinted alongside them. "Dude! Where have you guys been? We thought something must have happened."

"Ran into a spot of trouble. Were you the only one sent out to check on us?" Ignis really hoped that he was. It would save them the trouble of having to hunt down the others and he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Yeah, just me. So, uh, Noct just takin' a breather or…," Prompto asked, taking note of Noct's unconscious state slumped against his shoulders, "is he gonna be okay?"

"He should be." Ignis certainly hoped so, at least. "We'll need to examine him properly to be sure, but I suspect he's merely under the influence of a sedative. For now, we need to focus on reaching the Regalia."

"Right-o, follow me. We moved the car after the barrier fell." Prompto lead them toward a side road deviating from the main entrance for the city and Ignis was beyond grateful the others had thought ahead for a quick exit.

The Regalia was waiting for them, hidden behind the petrol station off the highway. Gladio waited with Iris and Talcott in the backseat, the young boy secured in Glaido's lap to allow for enough seating space for everyone. All of them nearly abandoned the car when they spotted Ignis carrying Noct.

"What happened?" Gladio all but demanded, passing a blotchy faced Talcott off to Iris as he took Noct's still form from Ignis.

"Tranquilizer dart I assume. Caligo attempted to apprehend us at the last generator. Keep an eye on him." Ignis claimed the driver's seat and pulled them out onto the road in a manner that was perhaps less cautious than he normally would have employed. His top priority at the moment was putting as much distance between them and Lestallum as possible.

"Great. Knew I shoulda strangled that guy when I had the chance," Gladio grumbled.

"Well, at least Noct will probably be glad he got an extra nap out of all this," Prompto tried to sound cheerful, though the levity in his voice was strained.

Gladio grunted unhappily. "Probably."

"How did things go on your end?" Ignis expected they hadn't experienced anything close to the complications he and Noct had run into.

Gladio shrugged. "The generator security was easy enough to handle between the three of us."

Prompto twisted to face forwards in his seat. "Yeah, and once the wall came down, getting to Talcott and the Regalia was a piece of cake."

Of course, what had doubtless been the monumentally more trying task of explaining to Talcott why his grandpa would not be accompanying them went unsaid. The poor boy remained silent in Iris' arms, face turned into her shoulder.

After a stretch of silence where no one commented and no pursuers arrived to take chase, Prompto managed to ask, "So… where are we gonna go now?"

"We should keep our heads down for the moment." Ignis was already running down the list of inconspicuous accommodations nearby they could take advantage of for the night. The hour was already getting late and he wanted to have Noctis looked over sooner rather than later. "We'll need to contact Cindy and call off our appointment."

"On it." Prompto pulled out his phone to see to the task.

"After we're done with that our next move should be to head for Caem," Gladio spoke up, reminding them all why they'd come to Lestallum in the first place. He turned to Iris. "You two gonna be alright if we drop you off there?"

"Yeah." Iris wrapped her arms more securely around Talcott. "We'll be fine. Don't worry about us."

Ignis could glimpse silent tears tailing down the boy's face. What a horrible tragedy this had turned out to be. If only there were more they could have done for Jared. The least they could do now was see his grandson to a safe place. "Then, to Caem it is."

* * *

Okay, so originally I missed that Talcott had let slip he and his grandpa were from Insomnia and that was why the imperials interrogated Jared. When I found out I was so sad! I really didn't want Talcott carrying that guilt on his shoulders until adulthood and just had to vent some feels about it.  
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the update. Please take care of yourselves out there and if you have the time I'd love to hear from you in the comments! :)


	17. The King and the Omen

Chapter Summary: The light grows dim.

* * *

The Coernix gas station was a quiet place, as weathered and lacking in excitement as its in-the-middle-of-nowhere locale would suggest. But then, when you'd been on the road this long, you learned to appreciate what opportunities you got to stretch your legs.

The bell over the door gave out an almost mournful toll as Noctis made his way inside. Lazily he moved toward the back, eyes roaming over the same old merchandise, practically identical to what you'd find at dozens of other stations. Not really taking anything in. Not noticing when the shelves began to pull away and the dusty floorboards peeled back. Not bothered as dark marble snapped into their place or at the walls of heavy laden bookcases sliding in at his back, locking out the untamed outlands beyond.

It was grand, this place. And definitely regal, but not like back home. No, where Insomnia had always been a steady pulse of activity wrapped in concrete and taunt tension, here there was a more tranquil pace to existence that clashed with his city upbringing, while simultaneously lulling his thoughts toward distant promises and the heavy melancholy that steeped in the walls and soured the air. Luna had been here the day they first met – and so many after.

The bitter sting of longing prickled beneath his skin at the thought. A quick glance around the room revealed it wasn't quite as he remembered it, outdated as those memories were. It felt smaller. The distance between the walls no longer seemed to stretch over the near boundless expanse he'd come to know from a wheelchair.

There were other new touches, of course. Paintings commissioned since his one and only visit. Furniture rearranged. A faceless manikin adorned in the designer wedding gown from the article at Galdin, an echo of changes still to come.

At least the matching twin beds were still there, pushed against the far wall under their canopies. They would sit on those beds and talk for hours. He could still hear her voice, so gentle yet sure – the day she told him of his destiny.

"_To crown the King of Light is the calling of the Crystal. Only the True King anointed by the Crystal can purge our star of its Scourge."_

He found himself drawn toward the childhood relics. Like a marionette on stings, his feet carried him across the polished floor. Lightning flashed, blinding and quick, twisting the long shadows that prowled the room. His eyes looked to the gold trimmed windows and beyond to the ominous storm clouds looming on the horizon.

What would it have been like if he could have saved her…

Thunder rumbled overhead, a blooming soundtrack carried in on the winds and intermittent with the metallic whine of magitek airships ravaging the skies.

The Regalia swerved, hugging the tight curve of the roadway as Noctis strained the engine for more speed. He felt sweat roll down his back and the heat swelling a hair's breath away. Missals peppered the asphalt, tearing up the seaside pass in his wake.

Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was a sign from fate or even an aftereffect of his latest brush with death. But he swore he saw her then, standing on the roadside – there one moment and gone the next.

He blinked in the glare of the sun, his eyes catching on pale fur stark and bright against the green wilds. Pryna sat patiently before an old, gnarled tree not ten feet from the road. Waiting.

His hands jerked the wheel too harshly – lost control. The Regalia flipped. And he was thrown, suspended in free fall with bits of broken glass, seared metal and tire rubber.

He slammed down on his back, head smacking against the pavement hard enough that he saw stars and fire. The air was brittle and dry, tasting of acrid smoke.

Luna was there too, backed against rough stone in clothes torn and bloodied. Her face was ashen, breaths coming in frantic gasps as she locked eyes with the dark figure standing over her. She rolled away, narrowly avoiding the ornate blade embedded in the solid rock.

"Noctis!" She sprang to her feet, trident in hand but hesitant to fight back.

The dark figure ignored her plea and struck her across the jaw.

Noctis startled up from the ground and the wreckage of the Regalia, ash smeared over his skin. His eyes found Pryna's and she lead him away, to a vast ocean of sand with crumbling angels in the distance. They came upon a boat there, long and thin, embedded in the dunes as if cresting a great, white capped wave. The floor of the vessel was hollowed out and bright light strobed from the other side.

They stepped through, touching down onto a subway train, like they had back home. But unlike in the city, this train was packed with imperial soldiers. They lined the walls and filled the isle, cold armor brushing against him in the sway of the car as he wove his way through.

The lights outside blinked in and out with a hypnotic sort of cadence as the train ran beneath them. It's in between the beats of shadow that he thought caught glimpse of someone there watching. He twisted around to see, but only found his reflection staring back in the scratched glass.

They grinded to jarring halt at some kind of imperial airbase. Pryna was already off the train and wandering up the stairs of the terminal by the time he got past the doors. He pushed between the soldiers, trying to catch up as his guide raced down the line of airships. There was one in particular she seemed to be headed for that was already prepping for liftoff. The loading ramp started to rise as soon as Pryna set foot on the ship.

He knocked into more soldiers getting in his way, trying to hold him back. When they brought out their weapons he repaid them in kind, cutting a path through their number and trailing a blue afterimage of the Crystal's light.

The ship was already in the air when he stumbled aboard, sword first. He rolled across the deck just missing the closing doors. Bullets pelted the bottom and sides of the ship but none breached the hull. He looked up, meeting Pryna's eyes. They burned bright and hot like hungry flames.

In them he saw Luna again, still fighting. She parried another fierce swing of a sword before bringing up her hand, palm out. The next strike rippled across the glittering gold of her barrier. But she was losing strength fast and her assailant was persistent. Blow after blow wailed against her magic, until it shattered.

The backlash threw her back against the dirt. She lost her grip on her trident – had to drag herself on shaking arms just to reach out toward its hilt. It was a futile effort. Her assailant had beat her to it, snatching it up out of her weakened grasp.

Before Noctis could see any more the floor of the airship opened up – metal shifting apart like broken puzzle pieces – dropping him and Pryna both into a black abyss.

He summoned a dagger, stabbing it into the darkness. Sparks flew as the blade dug into a wall of shadow, slowing his decent until gravity shifted and the wall tilted beneath his feet. Under the harsh glare of the floodlights a concrete bridge came into focus, along with the imperial soldiers closing in from both ends, rifles drawn.

The call for bloodshed thrummed steady in his ears – underscored with a vengeful pang of his heart – so he obliged. Tossing his dagger, he warped into the thick of them, slicing out their throats and stabbing into the seams of their armor. Trading out the smaller blades for a lance, he twirled the length of the weapon in a deadly dance, cleaving himself a path through their ranks. He left them with a flask of fire elemancy for their troubles.

Pryna had more to show him.

The world spun, night became day, and a behemoth stalked him in the place of men on a bridge of stone and ornate columns. He sidestepped the snap of vicious fangs and when it's claws came down he brought his sword up. A bloody gash tore into the flesh of the beast's neck. As it recoiled he tried to warp some distance between them, sending the glaive ahead of him. His form flickered in the sparks of the Crystal's magic but they fizzled out and left him behind.

Before he could more than blink in surprise the behemoth caught him with a swipe of its massive paw, throwing him against the wall. The pain only dulled his confusion; he hadn't misstepped like that in years. Yet he could still feel the hum magic in his veins as he peeled himself up off the ground and back to his feet.

He couldn't dwell on it. Pryna's barks drew not only his attention but the behemoth's as well. Together they sprinted toward the mirror in the wall, the beast hot on their tails. It was Luna's eyes he met in their reflection before they dove through the smooth surface.

From the mirror they were spat out in the surf, left adrift in the salty current. Through the waves above he could see the shadows of hundreds of airships swarming over a city on the sea like a plague of ravenous locusts. There came a roar from the clouds and a dark shape swooped in to tear through one of the ships and then another. One by one the ships were felled from the sky.

Then there was ground beneath his feet again. Night had returned and the soldiers waited on all sides. He readied his lance, preparing to continue the fight, but it crumbled to dust in his hands and he felt the weight of his magic fade and fizzle out with it. When they opened fire he dove away from the barrage, weaving in and out of rows of stacked supplies and other obstacles left in his path.

When a soldier got too close he rushed them, wrestling his gun away and turning the weapon on the others. Then he shot out the bulbs of the floodlights above.

In the darkness the soldiers didn't fire as recklessly. But their number was many, more than he could easily handle without his magic. His clothes were already shredded, his skin mottled with evidence left behind by close calls and near misses.

Missiles lit up the unmanned tank at his back and he and Pryna scrambled to find cover, a magitek armor's automated fire dogging their steps. He answered back with his stolen gun between the volleys but the magitek had them pinned.

With reckless resolve, Pryna darted out in the open, drawing magitek's fire and granting Noctis his chance.

He made for the large crane against the wall of the base. Taking up the thick chain, he spun the hooked end before launching it at the magitek's arm. Linked metal quickly became entangled in the mechanism of the machine gun and he activated the crane. There was straining of gears as the magitek was yanked backwards and the weight of the crane toppled on top of it.

Noctis ran to Pryna, lying still and bloody on the ground, but the abyss opened up beneath his feet. As he sank into its depths he heard his own voice from years long passed.

"_Am I The Chosen?" _

He remembered asking that question, not having been able to believe such a thing. Not until Luna had believed in him.

"_Yes."_

The night air tasted of ash and smoke. He opened his eyes at the base of a familiar gnarled tree. There were flames all around him, dripping from the fangs of daemons, gruesome and dark, with red eyes and many heads. Pushing himself up from the dirt he found the Trident of the Oracle lax in his grip.

He looked up as the thrall bowed their heads low before an even greater creature flying in overhead. Massive wings churned the scalding air and an all too familiar roar pierced the night. The dragon was black as death with wisps of shadow trailing in it's wake. Sharp crystalline growths jutted out from its hide like poisonous thorns, glowing a sickly purple. He watched as the beast touched down on the barren ground, opening it's maw and unleashing a torrent of bright embers that stung his eyes and illuminated the ruin the world has become beyond the circle of daemons.

But the eyes were when he knew. Two points of arctic green fire bore into his soul.

And he felt their minds touch – a surge of savage hatred ignited by bitter betrayal raged into an inferno so hot it charred him from the inside out. A scream rose and died on his lips before he could comprehend whether the sound was really his. He fumbled to bring his hands up to cradle his head – as if such an act could siphon away the thoughts and emotions that weren't his.

_Take heed. This is the fate of the sovereign fallen from grace and to all who would follow him there in._

Then the dragon lowered his head. And the daemons, they-they weren't bowing to the dragon – to Ignis – they were bowing to _him_.

Pryna wandered onto the scene, skirting into his line of sight and moving toward the gnarled tree as if she'd never been hurt. He followed her with his eyes, her name poised on his tongue.

She turned and faced him – her eyes burned of fire again. And Noctis saw her grey skinned and stripped of her pristine fur.

She was dark like the daemons. Like Ignis.

He could hear himself answering Luna.

"_I guess I can do it."_

A hand reached down over Pryna's head and she pulled back her lips, snarling with yellowed fangs.

"_I won't let you down."_

He stumbled back, dropping the trident. But he could see it poised over Luna's neck all the same.

And Luna accepted his pledge with total confidence.

"_I know you won't."_

The trident was back in his hands as it came down, and now, his eyes were of fire too.

* * *

Noctis woke up gasping for breath like he'd just ran one of Gladio's hellish training races sixteen times over, a numb sort of horror snapping at his heels. The sensation of blankets tucked tightly over his legs and pulled up to his chin felt abruptly suffocating, like the weight was choking him. His back spasmed as he tried to scramble out from beneath the them, and for the next indeterminate span of minutes all he was capable of was lying curled on his side in an attempt to ride out the pain without getting sick.

It was sometime in the midst of this miserable haze he felt a soothing aura press down against the rising panic, accompanied by hand rubbing careful circles into his back. Eventually, the nausea receded to the point where his stomach no longer felt like it was trying to escape through his esophagus. By then his surge of adrenaline from earlier had all but deserted him, along with the memory of whatever had gotten him so worked up in the first place, and he was having a hard time convincing himself not to stay nice and horizontal. Which, granted, wasn't exactly an unheard of grievance of his. But what Noctis wasn't used to was the milky layer of fog hanging over his senses, like someone had stuffed his head full of cotton. It made everything just a bit fuzzy.

Still, it wasn't enough to make him miss the protective presence at his side. "Back with us?"

Noctis grunted but didn't otherwise reply or move yet, not really keen on a repeat experience with his aggravated back. It was probably his distress that woke Ignis in the first place. He wondered at what odd hour of the night it must be.

As if sensing his reluctance, Ignis crossed to the other side of the bed and kneeled down to get a better look at him, his green eyes reflecting back the ambient light of the room in a way no human eyes could. An anxious sort of discomfort settled over Noctis that he'd never felt around the familiar sight before.

"'M fine," He waved away the other's concern distractedly, along with the odd discomfort. But he couldn't help feeling like something was missing here. The thought lent a small spike of urgency to his earlier efforts and allowed him to finally sit back up and scope out his surroundings. It was immediately obvious they were in a hotel room somewhere, less nice than the Leville maybe, but a definite step up from the campers they sometimes rented. Squinting in the darkness he could spy a vaguely Prompto shaped lump passed out in the other bed. But his shield was nowhere to be found. "Gladio?"

"He wished to keep watch over Iris and Talcott for tonight," Ignis supplied. And, just like, that the memories from the previous day came flooding back – finding Talcott alone, rescuing Iris and bringing down the Nifs' red wall – everything up until a sniper had taken a cheap shot at Ignis while he'd been distracted. Noctis remembered shoving him out of the line of fire, but then nothing.

He turned questioning eyes on Ignis, knowing his confusion would read loud and clear. Ignis promptly complied with the unspoken request and filled him in, "You recall the dart you took in my place? It was filled with a tranquilizer, a rather potent one at that. It's likely to blame should you be experiencing any difficulties staying alert or remembering recent events. The effects should wear off within twenty-four hours or so but we'll be keeping an extra close eye on you just to be sure."

"Tranquilizer?" That didn't sound like the Empire's style.

Ignis glanced away, eyes resting on the sliver of pale moonlight sliding in between the window's heavy curtains. "We believe it was their intention to capture us alive."

Huh, and here Noctis had thought all the Empire wanted was to send him six feet under. "That's… new."

"It's not all that's new." It was hard to make out much of Ignis' expression in the low lighting, but Noctis imagined he was making that face he had when he was bothered by something and really didn't want to talk about it. He was doing that thing where he clamped down on his side of the bond so that his emotions didn't come through as clearly, which he didn't seem to realize always gave away that he was upset anyway. Noctis was halfheartedly considering prodding for answers when Ignis finally elaborated, "They've found a way to suppress my magic."

Noctis blinked dully at the news, thinking he must have misheard. "What?"

"The wall generators were somehow rigged – a disruption wave if I had to guess. It was after we destroyed the last one that they moved in to contain us."

Noctis frowned, voice coming out a bit thick. "You're okay though, right?"

Ignis' silhouette nodded in the darkness. "The effects were temporary."

"Not what I meant," Noctis grumbled, listing a bit to the side as the fuzzy sensation from earlier reasserted itself. His eyelids drooped with a sudden fatigue.

"We'll talk more when you're feeling more lucid," Ignis answered evasively, guiding him back down to the mattress. "For now, it's best if you get some rest. The sedative has yet to run its course."

"Fine." Noctis allowed himself to slip further into the bed in a hazy sulk as Ignis began fussing with the blankets. But they would be talking about this later.

* * *

So this chapter was a bit different than the others but I hope it was still enjoyable. I think it would have been neat if we could have gotten more from XV based off the Omen trailer but at least it made a pretty intriguing cinematic.

As always, I'd love to hear from you if you enjoyed the chapter and hope everyone is staying safe out there!


	18. The Dragon and the Blademaster's Tale

Chapter Summary: Talcott is introduced to camping and Gladio reflects on recent mistakes.

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They headed out early the next morning, much to the dismay of a certain prince. Noct was still pretty groggy from the tranquilizer, even more sluggish than usual to lace up his boots and stagger down to the car. He conked out again soon after, head reclined back and wedged between the door and the leather headrest. If it weren't for yesterday's close call he'd probably would've tried to decree today a royal sleep in holiday. Gladio might've even been tempted to indulge him – Noct wasn't the only one running a bit ragged after that fiasco – but the sooner they made tracks for Caem the better.

"Guess Noct's not going to be up for much conversation anytime soon." Iris slid in next after sleeping beauty, mostly succeeding at hiding her concern beneath the teasing.

Prompto snickered. "Typical Noct, always naps in the car."

"Always?" Iris' eyebrows shot up skeptically, as if Gladio hadn't complained in detail to her over the years about Noct and his inhuman ability to nod off anywhere.

"Says the road noise makes him sleepy," Gladio answered the same time as Prompto. He rolled his eyes fondly at the giggle that earned them out of his little sister. It was obvious Iris was putting on a brave face after what happened to Jared – they all were to some extent. They couldn't afford to dwell on that loss at the moment, especially with a hurting Talcott in tow.

Gladio couldn't help but ruffle the kid's hair as he scurried in next to Iris with no complaints. The little guy was one hell of a trooper, that was for sure. "You all set back there, champ?"

"Yes, sir. I'm fine, sir."

It probably went against local safety regulations to have poor Talcott and Iris squeezed in the back seat between Noct and Prompto but they were a bit short on options. Gladio was already regretting his decision to surrender the extra leg room. Prompto must've had the passenger seat pushed up as far as it would go and Gladio felt his knees smack against the dash every time they went over a rough patch of road.

It wasn't ideal, but he didn't want Iris and Talcott to have to go it alone. And it wouldn't be for long anyway; Cor had gotten in touch with them the night before, asking them to meet up with Monica at a haven on the way to Caem. She apparently had another lead for them.

The drive was going to be a long one though, and there weren't a lot of stops on the stretch of highway that would take them along the Leirity Seaside. So they'd stocked up on plenty of snacks in the car before they left and passed them out as needed. Decidedly not an Ignis-approved meal replacement but the dragon had let it slide without so much as a judgmental tick of his eyebrow or dry recitation of the proper dietary intake of sodium and saturated fats.

In fact, Iggy hadn't said much of anything, lecturing or otherwise, since he shared his account of busting out of Lestallum. And it wasn't hard to guess why. Gladio really didn't want to think about what could've happened if Ignis hadn't been able to pull Noct and himself out of the Empire's clutches but the possibilities hung over his head nonetheless, like a sharpened guillotine just waiting to fall. The Nifs were certainly getting craftier, he'd give the murdering sociopaths that much. And they were all feeling the strain.

Things started off mostly quiet in the Regalia. No one really wanted to bring up more serious topics like the Empire's new penchant for deadly traps with Noct being so out of it and Talcott in constant earshot. So they did their best not to disturb their snoozing prince too much and kept the conversation light. Thankfully, Iris was more than adept at managing the latter, bringing up everything from the difference between the cars out here and the ones back home to asking after who did most of the driving – which was undeniably Ignis and not something that was about to change anytime soon.

The easy drone of idle chatter was normally the perfect backdrop for Gladio to loose himself in one of the precious few novels he kept on hand, but the familiar words on the page just couldn't seem to hold his focus today. He couldn't say he was particularly surprised. As long as he could remember he'd never been great at distracting himself from feelings of guilt or inadequacy, and he felt both settle keenly at the pit of his stomach now. It galled Gladio to admit he'd fallen down on the job twice over lately, first with letting Ravus cut right through him like he was some wet behind the ears rookie, then by furthering endangering Noct from allowing himself to put his own family above his sworn duty. He should have stuck with Noct after they'd sprung the Empire's trap. Because of his weakness they'd very nearly lost both Noct and Ignis all in one go.

Through all the increasingly dangerous situations that had been thrown at them one thing had become crystal clear: if Gladio was going to succeed at protecting his king he needed to up his game. He couldn't expect Ignis to take up his slack anymore, especially now that the Empire had figured out a way to sap his strength. That was never Iggy's job in the first place, not in the same way it was Gladio's. Dragons were a symbol of power to the kings. Ignis was meant to be the sword, the powerhouse trump card no one knew to expect. He made Noct stronger, fed his own fierce fire right into his veins. Gladio was the shield, charged with defending the life of the king and grounding him in both focus and conviction, just as all the shields before him had done since the dawn of the line of Lucis. And it was a charge he was going to fail if he didn't figure something out fast.

In spite of Gladio's sobering thoughts, the atmosphere in the Regalia slowly began to lighten. The Six must've been smiling down on them for once because the skies stayed clear – of dark clouds and imperial drop ships alike – and they got a pretty impressive view of the Rock of Ravatogh smoking in the distance to boot, which got even Talcott talking. Apparently, Jared had taken the time to educate both him and Iris about the historic landmark and Talcott had soaked it all up like a sponge. The kid might not have come close to his normal levels of enthusiasm but it was still reassuring to see a small break in how subdued he'd become since Lestallum.

With the lack of imperial interruptions they were making good time and it seemed like only a few short hours before they tasted salt on the air. It was Prompto that pointed out the sign for a scenic overlook around a mouthful of peanuts but Gladio was the one who pushed for a quick pit stop. The others agreed without too much fuss, eager for a break from the cramped car ride.

"Oh baby, check out that view! I've got just the filter for this shot." Barely free of his seat belt and already Prompto was tinkering with his camera, looking back and forth between it and what they could glimpse of the Cygillian ocean over green treetops. Talcott lasted all of a minute before asking what the filter was for and that was all the invitation Prompto needed to launch into regaling him with everything he had to say on the subject of photography.

While the kid was thoroughly distracted Iris sidled up to their designated driver along the railing facing the ocean. "So, Ignis, between everything else you keep up with and looking after these knuckleheads do you ever get the chance to stretch your wings?"

Ignis surreptitiously glanced over at the other visitors to the overlook, an elderly couple already making their way back toward their vehicle, before turning back to Iris. "From time to time."

Iris hummed. "I bet it must be nice for a change, being out here in these wide open spaces instead of cooped up in a small office all the time."

"Not quite how I'd describe my time in the Citadel, but I can't deny that there is a certain allure to the greater territories of Lucis and beyond." Ignis looked out at the ocean stretching on into the horizon. "There is much left to see."

"Yeah, you've got that right." Iris sighed, sounding downright wistful. "Still, I bet you've gone on some pretty amazing adventures already. To be honest, I'm a little jealous."

"It's not typically as exciting as all that," Ignis tried to reassure.

"Aw, come on, let's not undersell it here,"Gladio butted in, crossing his arms over the railing on Iris' other side. "I mean, there was that time you set a behemoth on fire and when we found that ancient dragon tomb in the middle of a cave in. Or, you know, that time we faced off against Titan and lived to tell about it."

Iris' eyes grew wider at each recount. "Whoa, seriously? You guys must kick ass. Wish I could've been there."

"Best to be glad you weren't. The Archaean especially was not the most hospitable of hosts." Ignis huffed. "But if it's adventure you crave, I'm certain some manner of mishap will be served up soon enough."

"Yeah, you're probably right. It just won't be the same without you guys around, ya know?" Iris frowned, a sudden grim sort of resignation rising up over her like an angry storm cloud.

And, well, no matter what other problems Gladio might be burdened with, he wouldn't be standing for that. "True, we are pretty awesome," he bragged, enjoying the cut off snort that got him out of Iris.

She punched him in the arm none too gently for that. "Gladdy!"

Gladio grinned. "Tell you what, before we cross that ocean we'll make sure to hunt up some excitement just for you."

"You really mean it?" Iris asked, a big grin breaking out over her face.

"Cross my heart." Gladio drug his thumb across said heart in two quick strokes, sealing the deal.

"Thanks, Gladdy!" Iris bumped her shoulder into his.

And Gladio tried not to look too pleased with himself. All things considered, it was a promise that might not be easy to keep. He didn't know exactly when they'd be seeing Iris again or what the circumstances would be, but he couldn't deny that making Iris happy had always been a bit of an Achilles heel of his. It was also worth mentioning that a cheerful Iris was typically a more even tempered Iris, and one who hopefully wouldn't go out of her way looking for trouble while he wasn't around. It wasn't that she couldn't handle herself in a fight – quite the opposite in fact – but he still felt better knowing she had someone there to watch her back. And he certainly had enough on his conscious at the moment without letting Iris down as well.

Pretty soon Prompto wrapped up his impromptu photography lecture and they all crowded back into the car, hushing up anymore talk about recent dragon shenanigans or taking on the Six. It was information Talcott wasn't quite ready for, as much as the kid could've used the distraction. It was also a bigger responsibility than they wanted to lay on the kid's shoulders right now.

Even Iris only knew about Iggy's more feathered side due to an accident, though Gladio sometimes wondered if she would have figured it out by now with or without having stumbled in on Noct and Iggy napping in the garden that one sunny afternoon. Swearing in a six-year-old to keep one of their kingdom's national secrets afterwards had certainly been an experience to say the least.

Thankfully, nature ended up supplying a distraction of its own with the rest of the drive keeping them close along the shoreline. Gladio fiddled with the radio until he found some catchy tune and then sat back to appreciate the view. It still caught him off guard every now and then just how beautiful the world could be outside Insomnia. Even Talcott had his eyes glued to the seaside scenery. Poor kid had probably never been to a real beach in his life. Gladio was suddenly intensely glad they'd get to take the kid camping at least once before handing him off to the Crownsguard. It was by far the least he could do, even if he hadn't owed Jared for all he'd done for them. Talcott was a sharp kid but one Gladio knew would have to grow up fast, and now without his Grandpa's guidance to fall back on. In light of that, one night under the stars didn't seem like much of a consolation, but then, Gladio was feeling inadequate at a lot of things lately.

They found Monica already waiting for them when they came upon Spelcray Haven. She bowed respectfully to Noct, who'd managed to rejoin the land of the living sometime before they'd pulled off the road. "Your Highness. I'm glad to see you've all arrived safely."

"Yeah, uh, same to you," Noct mumbled back, barely less of a zombie now then he'd been this morning.

"Indeed," Ignis agreed, moving the discussion along. "The marshal mentioned you had some intel for us."

Monica straightened. "Yes. Are you by any chance familiar with the Malmalam Thicket?"

"Hey, isn't that the place we passed on the way in?" Prompto asked, and now that Gladio thought about it he did remember seeing a sign for something like that some ways back. If they hadn't been on their way to meet Monica or had Talcott along for the ride they might've even taken the time to check it out.

"We have reason to believe you'll find a royal tomb located within," Monica explained. "Given recent events, the marshal elected to send me ahead to deliver young Talcott and Lady Iris the rest of the way to Caem. I assure you, they will be safe with me."

Honestly, Gladio thought that was a better option than forcing someone to say behind with them and wait on everyone else. Some of the tombs took longer to explore than others. "Thanks, Monica. We owe you another one."

"Sounds like we have a plan. We should be able to set out thing tomorrow morning, then. In the meantime, Noct, mind catching us something for supper?" Ignis asked, nodding toward a small pier just off to the side of the haven. "It would be a shame to pass up the opportunity for fresh seafood."

The request had Noct bouncing back to awareness quicker than a shot of caffeine. He started off for the pier without a second thought. "Not a bad idea."

He called back over his shoulder just as he was climbing down the steep slant of the haven's foundation, "Hey, Talcott, you ever cast a line before?"

"No, sir," Talcott answered hesitantly, eyes snapping up from the runes glowing faintly beneath his feet.

"Wanna give it a try?"

"Yes, please."

Pretty soon they were all roped into one task or another, whether setting up camp or scoping out the surrounding area for fresh ingredients. Every now and then Gladio would look up from pitching a tent or sorting through their gear to glance over toward the water's edge, where he'd find Talcott giving the fishing rod an experimental swing under Noct's surprisingly attentive eye. He had to give the kid props; he stuck with it better than Gladio would have at that age, but then, he hadn't exactly been the most patient of brats.

The two of them turned out to be pretty successful though, reeling in a decent haul of sea bass and even the odd grouper or two. Between the fish Noct and Talcott caught and the mollusks Prompto had stumbled across in the shallow pools littered across the rocky shoreline they managed to pull together quite the seafood feast. One that was prepared in record time thanks to Iris and Monica giving Iggy a hand in their makeshift kitchen.

Gladio couldn't help but think the three of them had outdone themselves as he relaxed in front of the fire, feeling pleasantly full and reluctant to move. The crackle and pop of burning wood sung out a cozy anthem echoed by the crashing waves and the distant cry of sea birds nesting further down the coast. Angry sparks flew up in discontent every so often only to be spirited off on the ocean breeze along with the rising smoke.

This was his favorite part of staying outdoors – just as the sun sunk out of sight and the stars came out to mingle in the fading twilight. And before the daemon moans started in earnest. It was a moment of calm, a chance to take a breath and still the choppy turbulence of your own thoughts.

Gladio knew the others didn't appreciate camping the same way he did. He could even understand some of the reservations that went along with the idea; all of them were city born and bred after all. He was no stranger to a comfy bed well off the hard ground and away from the bugs that liked to crawl along it. But he'd always found something oddly gratifying about laying out under an open sky and connecting with nature – though he was forced to admit he'd never truly experienced it in full until they'd left Insomnia behind them. Now that he'd lived the real deal all those nights spent in the manicured parks back in the city really couldn't compare.

At least Gladio didn't seem to be entirely alone in his appreciation. He couldn't help but smile a little when he felt Talcott's weight settle further against his side. The kid had wandered over to the fire pit sometime in the middle of dinner, a curious spark glinting in wide eyes as he watched Gladio stoke the flames. But the expected barrage of questions never came; instead Talcott had sat quietly and let the ebb of conversation around the haven wash over him like the tide. Now with his tiny frame huddled up against the closest source of warmth it looked like the long day was finally catching up to the little guy. "You ready to head into the tent, champ?"

Talcott shook his head, not even bothering to pull his face away from the larger man's side. Gladio thought he might have heard a soft "no" mumbled into the leather of his jacket. He wrapped his arm around the kid's back, shielding him from the worst of the strong winds sweeping in on the waves. "You sure? It's getting pretty chilly out here."

Talcott nodded. "I wanna watch the stars a little longer."

"The stars?"

"Grandpa used to tell me stories about them," the kid mumbled out barely above a whisper and Gladio held his breath, silently urging him to continue. Eventually Talcott did, little voice gaining steam as he went. "He tried to show me in Lestallum but we didn't see a whole lot more than back home. He said the city lights were too bright and that's why we couldn't see them."

The kid looked up then. "But I've never seen this many stars before."

Gladio could believe that. The inky blackness above was now overflowing with more stars than you could ever hope to count, far more than could be seen through any city's worth of light pollution, let alone Insomnia's Wall. He rubbed the kid's back soothingly when he jumped at a sudden chittering sounding off somewhere close, probably a pack of imps. Gladio still wasn't that great at identifying daemons by sound alone. "You'll see a lot of stars in places like this between the cities."

When Talcott didn't reply or otherwise make a move to talk anymore about his grandpa's stories Gladio started to rack his brain for something to say. He didn't know many story tale legends or much of anything about the constellations he imagined Jared's stories were based on, but it felt wrong to let the conversation end there with Talcott still so withdrawn and miserable. "Ya know, I don't know many stories about the stars, but there was this one my old man used to tell." And he was willing to bet Talcott hadn't heard it.

Gladio was relieved to see the kid perk up in interest at that. "Who was it about?"

"They call him the Blademaster, a name he earned collecting the swords of his greatest challengers as trophies and mastering them in combat. He wielded them in defense of the line of Lucis as its very first shield, sworn to protect the Founder King himself." Gladio paused, letting that sink in.

Talcott squirmed against his side, brimming with that unquenchable curiosity he was known for. "He was an Amicitia? That would make him…"

"My ancestor? Yeah, he's supposed to have been where is all began." By now Gladio knew he had Talcott's undivided attention, as well as a few other listeners from around the haven, but they all left him to it. "He was said to have been a warrior of great skill but also of great honor and loyalty. Legend has it he remained undefeated, even beyond the grave."

Talcott blinked owlishly at that. "But how…"

Gladio grinned. "His warrior spirit was too fierce for the undertaker to cage and his loyalty so potent it kept him bound to the land of Lucis. To this day it's believed he still haunts this plane, waiting to test the might of Lucian warriors bold enough to think themselves worthy of his legacy." Though Gladio decidedly left out the bit about certain death being the expected outcome for any such challenger. This tale was probably bordering on ghost story territory a little too much as it was. He didn't actually want to give the kid nightmares or anything.

"What happens if you win?" Talcott asked around a yawn that could have given Noct a run for his money.

"Don't know. No one's ever done it before," Gladio answered honestly. "But if someone were to survive the Blademaster they could only come out of the trial a stronger person."

He knew there was more to the story but that was about all he could remember clearly and Talcott was fading fast despite his interest in the story. When it was clear the kid was having trouble keeping his eyes open Gladio scooped him up in his arms and started for the closest tent. "Okay, champ. I think that's enough for tonight."

Talcott didn't protest this time, murmuring a quiet thank you for the story against his shoulder instead.

"Any time, kid."

When he returned from putting Talcott to bed Iris came to sit close by his side. "He doing all right?"

Gladio nodded. "He will be. Kid's made of tougher stuff."

"Yeah." Iris accepted that, a warm smile slipping onto her face. "So, Gladdy, I was wondering, would you mind if I tagged along with you guys tomorrow? I promise not to slow you down."

Gladio thought about it but didn't really see why she couldn't. As long as they finished up before sundown there'd be no daemons to deal with and it was something they could do with Iris before they left for Altissia. "I've got no problem with it. Doubt any of the guys will either. We can drop you off at Caem after." Which would also give them an excuse to check in and see how Talcott was settling in afterwards.

Iris beamed. "Great! I guess I'll see you guys bright and early."

"Sure, we'll even put you in charge of waking Noct."

"Unbelievable," Iris huffed in faux annoyance. "Fine, I can always pour ice down his sleeping bag if he's even close to as bad as you guys always say."

"Trust me, nothing was exaggerated about that," Gladio called after her as she made her way to the tent she was sharing with Monica, the both of them ignoring Noct's unimpressed look from across the fire pit as well as Prompto's – and to a lesser extent Ignis' – clear amusement at his expense.

The rest of them stayed up a bit longer, checking over their supplies for tomorrow and wasting time on their phones. The whole while Gladio found the story of the Blademaster kept coming back to him unbidden. There was one other thing about the trials besides the danger of death he'd left out of his retelling to Talcott. And if what his old man used to tell about a certain immortal held any truth then maybe there was a solution to his problems after all.

* * *

Welp, this was not the chapter I originally intended to write but here we are. And, man, did it seem to take forever to get here. I certainly didn't plan to leave this story hanging for so long but the last month or so has just not been very conducive to me and writing, and that was before the characters decided to revolt and do their own thing. In the end I hope it was still entertaining and that at least someone enjoyed seeing Gladio's softer side as much as I did. It certainly feels like we could all use a little fluff right about now.

Thanks to everyone who's given feedback and just stuck with this story. You guys really keep me chugging along and I wish you all the best!


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